Hi everyone-

Happy Labor Day! I am doing something a little different today and getting a bit political. I thought it would be appropriate given the day and the timing of the events that I am going to talk about...

On a day that is to celebrate the American workforce and their contributions to our society I would like to tell you about how some of those workers are going to lose pension benefits in a big way if PA House Bill 1828 is not defeated...

Please take a moment to read these excerpts from press releases and letters to Representatives. If you are in Pennsylvania please consider helping us by contacting your Representative ASAP!!

You can click on this link to find your Representative:----> FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN PA

Here is some information on HB 1828:

HOUSE BILL 1828 AS PASSED BY THE SENATE:
AN ATTACK ON MUNICIPALITIES, THEIR EMPLOYEES AND TAXPAYERS

On Wednesday, August 26 -- after less than 2 hours of consideration -- the Pennsylvania
Senate passed an amendment to House Bill 1828. This Senate legislation, if approved by
the House and signed by the Governor, will hurt municipalities, their employees and
taxpayers across the Commonwealth – all under the guise of “pension reform.”

Here is what the so-called reforms really mean:

• A State Takeover of Many Pension Plans That Will Hurt – Not Save --
Municipalities, Employees and Taxpayers.

Section 13 of the Bill, starting at page 54, calls for the automatic and permanent
transfer of municipal pension plan systems that are under 50% funded to the
Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (“PMRS”). PMRS will have total
control over these plans – and can send an extra bill each year to the municipality
(and thus its taxpayers) if there is a funding shortfall, even if such a shortfall is
caused by PMRS’ mis-management (see page 55).

PMRS also will set up new, significantly lower benefit plans for new hires.
These plans will include lower defined benefit plans with huge offsets for things
like Social Security benefits, and/or defined contribution plans that place an
employee’s retirement security in the hands of the ever-so-reliable stock and bond
markets (see pages 55-61).

• An End to Collective Bargaining Over Pensions.

There is a widespread mis-conception that pension under-funding is the result of
benefit improvements won in collective bargaining. Nothing could be further
from the truth.

Most municipal employees receive pension benefits based on formulas set by the
General Assembly -- such as in Act 600 for police, and in the Third Class City
Code for uniformed and non-uniformed employees alike. And people also forget
that all public employees contribute a substantial amount of their own pay to fund
their pensions.

Public employees, then, are not to blame for pension under-funding. Rather, it is
certain municipalities that for many years did not contribute adequately to their
plans, and 2 stock market crashes since 2000, that have brought us the current
crisis.

Collective bargaining on pensions has helped municipalities and their employee
representatives develop local solutions and fair contracts within the applicable
statutory structures. But if there is a PMRS takeover, there will be absolutely no collective bargaining over pensions now or in the future, even if a plan’s funding
situation improves (see pages 54, 55-56). Similarly, plans that are less than 70%
funded can never be improved until they reach 90% funding (see page 39). And
the Senate bill requires the City of Philadelphia to freeze pension benefits for
current employees and impose a third tier of lower benefits on new hires, or it
loses the right to increase its sales tax and defer pension contributions to meet its
budget preferences (see pages 73, 76, 82).

This is simply not pension reform – it is rewriting labor law to hurt employees
and their chosen representatives. New police officers will not face 80% of the
bullets of their more senior brothers and sisters. New fire fighters will not face a
lower percentage risk of a roof falling in on them when attacking a fire. New
municipal employees will not face a fraction of the case-load, or sanitation and
water calls. If anything, we will ask them to do even more. Yet under this bill,
their contribution to the same critical work that makes the Commonwealth run
suddenly and forever is worth less.

• A Rejection of the Right Solution – Increase Funding for Pensions That Will Not
Hurt Municipalities, Employees and Taxpayers. Each year, modest taxes on the
premiums of fire and casualty insurance policies written by out-of-state insurance
companies seeking to take advantage of our state’s insurance laws generate tens
of millions of dollars in state aid for municipal pensions. It is real money that
helps municipalities meet their pension obligations. Yet at no time during HB
1828’s rush through the Senate was there any discussion about increasing this tax
to help municipalities fund their plans.

Are foreign fire and casualty insurers more valuable than our own municipalities,
their employees and Pennsylvania taxpayers?

HB 1828, as amended by the Senate, is not pension reform to save Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, and other municipalities across the Commonwealth.

It is instead a power-grab by PMRS, with the downside exposure borne just by the
affected municipalities and their taxpayers.

It is instead the effective elimination of 40 years of collective bargaining rights for public
employees.

It is instead an outrageous effort to “solve” pension under-funding that public employees
did not cause, but that they single-handedly will pay for in frozen or slashed benefits.

And it is also so very unnecessary to put municipalities, their employees and taxpayers at
risk when the Commonwealth instead could update a tax on out-of-state companies
writing insurance here.

HB 1828, as amended by the Senate, must not pass.

Here are some excerpts from press releases and letters to help you understand our fight. Thank you for taking the time to read them and for helping out your police and firefighters. We will be rallying at the Capitol in Harrisburg starting at 0930 on Tuesday please come out and support us if you can!

PA FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE PRESS RELEASE:

FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE – PENNSYLVANIA STATE LODGE
2949 N. Front St.
Harrisburg, PA 17110


PENNSYLVANIA PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
2048 Derry St.
Harrisburg, PA 17104

PRESS RELEASE

FOP, PPFFA: HB 1828 THREATENS FINANCIAL FUTURE OF
PA POLICE OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS
So-called “pension reform” being rammed through legislature
as unrelated amendment to Philadelphia sales tax bailout
State FOP president says removing local control of police pensions
nothing more than power grab

HARRISBURG (Sept. 8, 2009) – What does a Philadelphia sales tax bailout have to do with the pension plans of Pennsylvania police officers and firefighters in more than 55 municipalities? Nothing – and that’s just one of the reasons why Fraternal Order of Police, Pennsylvania State Lodge (state FOP) and Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association (PPFA) today called on the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives to reject House Bill 1828. The state FOP, PPFA, and their members were joined today by several legislators for a press conference in the main capitol rotunda.
“Under the guise of pension reform, House Bill 1828 seeks to strip away local control of police pension plans – control that officers have spent decades fighting for fairly and winning through binding arbitration,” said state FOP Les Neri. “True pension reform is complicated and should be thoroughly and properly vetted through exhaustive public hearings that will allow the sharing of information and ideas. Ramming this through as a last-second amendment to a sales tax bailout bill is eerily reminiscent of recent past behavior by the legislature that has earned the ire of the public and voters.”
“Firefighters risk their lives everyday to keep their communities safe,” said PPFFA Art Martynuska. “They don’t do it to get rich. They do it because they love what they do. It’s unconscionable that a bill designed to bailout Philadelphia could devastate the financial futures of these brave firefighters – and their dedicated families.”
House Bill 1828 – a bill originally designed to increase the sales tax in Philadelphia by 1 percent – will put the financial future of thousands of small town police officers as well as officers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in jeopardy. Neri and Martynuska, joined in the Capitol Rotunda by Pennsylvania police officers and firefighters, called on the legislature to do the right thing by separating these issues and restoring common sense to the process.
If passed, HB 1828 would give control of local police and fire pensions to the Pennsylvania Municipality Retirement System (PMRS), essentially stripping away rights of police, firefighters and their families. Instead of “solving” pension under-funding that public employees did not cause, this move would result in frozen or slashed benefits for officers who risk their lives to protect Pennsylvania citizens.

# # #
About the FOP
The Fraternal Order of Police was founded in Pittsburgh in 1915 by two city patrol officers, beginning the tradition of police officers representing police officers. Today the Pennsylvania Lodge has 41,000 active and retired members, and the Lodge is engaged in a broad range of activities. Charitable activities include Easter Seals and the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics. Visit www.pafop.org.

About the PPFFA

Then Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association was organized in 1930. There are over 10,000 active and retired emergency responders represented by the PPFFA. The PPFFA is the state affiliate of the International Association of Fire Fighters which has over 293,000 members in the United States and Canada. The PPFFA and the IAFF have advocated for fire fighter on the local, state and federal level. Visit www.ppffa.org"

HERE IS AN EXCERPT FROM A LETTER FROM THE COATSVILLE PA FIREFIGHTERS LOCAL TO THEIR REPRESENTATIVE:

"I'm contacting you today regarding HB 1828, and am asking for your support in a NO vote on concurrence of HB 1828. Your professional firefighters throughout the Commonwealth and in your district, do not want anyone gambling with our pensions! It's bad enough that we have to live with the inherent risks of the job, not to mention the things that no one would want - like job-related cancer, debilitating injuries or even death. Our pension(s), which mostly secure barely enough to survive after we retire, is one of the only things we can rely on to secure any type of future for us and our families.

There is a widespread mis-conception that pension under-funding is the result of benefit improvements won in collective bargaining. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Most municipal employees receive pension benefits based on formulas set by the General Assembly -- such as in Act 600 for police, and in the Third Class City Code for uniformed and non-uniformed employees alike. And people also forget that all public employees contribute a substantial amount of their own pay to fund their pensions.

Public employees, then, are not to blame for pension under-funding. Rather, it is certain municipalities that for many years did not contribute adequately to their plans, and 2 stock market crashes since 2000, that have brought us the current crisis.

Collective bargaining on pensions has helped municipalities and their employee representatives develop local solutions and fair contracts within the applicable statutory structures. But if there is a PMRS takeover, there will be absolutely no collective bargaining over pensions now or in the future, even if a plan’s funding situation improves (see pages 54, 55-56). Similarly, plans that are less than 70% funded can never be improved until they reach 90% funding (see page 39). And the Senate bill requires the City of Philadelphia to freeze pension benefits for current employees and impose a third tier of lower benefits on new hires, or it loses the right to increase its sales tax and defer pension contributions to meet its budget preferences (see pages 73, 76, 82).
This is simply not pension reform – it is rewriting labor law to hurt employees and their chosen representatives. New police officers will not face 80% of the bullets of their more senior brothers and sisters. New fire fighters will not face a lower percentage risk of a roof falling in on them when attacking a fire. New municipal employees will not face a fraction of the case-load, or sanitation and water calls. If anything, we will ask them to do even more. Yet under this bill, their contribution to the same critical work that makes the Commonwealth run suddenly and forever is worth less.

Increase Funding for Pensions That Will Not Hurt Municipalities, Employees and Taxpayers.
Each year, modest taxes on the premiums of fire and casualty insurance policies written by out-of-state insurance companies seeking to take advantage of our state’s insurance laws generate tens of millions of dollars in state aid for municipal pensions. It is real money that helps municipalities meet their pension obligations. Yet at no time during HB 1828’s rush through the Senate was there any discussion about increasing this tax to help municipalities fund their plans.
Are foreign fire and casualty insurers more valuable than our own municipalities, their employees and Pennsylvania taxpayers?
HB 1828, as amended by the Senate, is not pension reform to save Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and other municipalities across the Commonwealth.
It is instead a power-grab by PMRS, with the downside exposure borne just by the affected municipalities and their taxpayers.
It is instead the effective elimination of 40 years of collective bargaining rights for public employees.
It is instead an outrageous effort to "solve" pension under-funding that public employees did not cause, but that they single-handedly will pay for in frozen or slashed benefits.
And it is also so very unnecessary to put municipalities, their employees and taxpayers at risk when the Commonwealth instead could update a tax on out-of-state companies writing insurance here.

It is our hope that HB 1828, as amended by the Senate, does must not pass. Please allow local control to remain and continue to allow your firefighters, police officers and municipal workers in our communities the right to control our futures!

Thank you for your consideration on this matter!"

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THESE LETTERS. PLEASE CELEBRATE THIS LABOR DAY BY TAKING SOME TIME TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND URGING HIM OR HER TO DEFEATING HOUSE BILL 1828 AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE!

Have a great day!