Launch mail campaignTo the Editor:
I read the editor’s note in response to the letter of Peter Howard in the September issue of The Communicator with disappointment.
Despite PEF’s claim to be actively supporting Assembly and Senate bill A.7128/S.4554, it appears that all PEF has done is write a statement saying it supports the bills. This is not the level of advocacy required.
PEF should contact all of its members in pension tiers 3 and 4 and engage them in a letter-writing and e-mail campaign to get these bills out of committee and up for a vote before the full Legislature.
I organized a local mini-effort on my own initiative this past June in support of this legislation and I received responses from some of my legislators assuring me the bill has their support if it gets out of committee.
PEF should identify the appropriate legislative committee members and provide their names to our members so we can indicate our support for this legislation which will compensate tier 3 and 4 members who contributed to their retirement plans in excess of 10 years.
If PEF supports this effort, let’s see it demonstrated by deeds, not just words.
RUSSELL KARASIK
St. Remy
Editor’s note: For up-to-date information on PEF supported bills, go online to www.pef.org and select Political Action. For texts of bills and members of legislative committees, select the links to the NYS Assembly and NYS Senate.
Scholarships appreciated
To the Editor:
Thank you so much for the final installment of the 2004 Joseph Scacalossi Scholarship. I am truly appreciative of this generous gift. It has been a great help toward my college expenses.
BRIENNE E. ENGEL
East Greenbush
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To the Editor:
I would like to thank PEF for its generosity over the past four years in awarding me the PEF scholarship.
You have given me the financial means to achieve my dreams of pursuing a career in education. Someday, I hope to be able to give back to others what you have given me.
Candice Hunt
Athens
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To the Editor:
I would like to thank PEF and the scholarship committee for selecting me to receive a 2007 Joseph Scacalossi Scholarship. It is an honor to receive this award.
I look forward to the challenges that await me in the coming four years.
KATHERINE WHALEN
Geneva
Income falling for retirees
To the Editor:
State retirees live on declining incomes, not fixed incomes, if state pensions are their primary source of income.
Retired in 2001, my first monthly retirement adjustment in 2006 amounted to $25.50 before federal withholding.
Adjustments to pensions are computed at half the cost of living, capped at 3 percent annually, and limited to the first $18,000 of pension.
State workers need to save money during their work years to give themselves cost-of-living adjustments to supplement their state pensions. Otherwise, over the course of retirement, your standard of living may decline as your pension buys less each year.
Retirees’ historic wages were not generous. My first state job in 1963 paid $1.25 an hour. Over my work life with the state, good benefits were deemed (by me) to bridge the gap between private and state pays.
Future policy decisions on state retirement benefits need to consider historic pay disparities between the public and private sectors. Otherwise, state retiree pensions may be seen as generous.
The state pension fund is a managed portfolio of stocks, bonds and other investments. Returns on capital invested in the fund exceed rates of inflation. The fund is well managed. Issues include whether the fund could pay more equitable cost-of-living adjusted benefits and still meet future obligations without requiring higher payroll deductions from employees.
Higher retirement benefits are needed by retirees to maintain their standards of living in the face of rising costs for food, energy, medical care and local taxes.
MICHAEL J. BIRMINGHAM
Kinderhook
The Communicator Letters policy
We welcome letters to the editor about union issues and events relevant to PEF's diverse membership. All letters are subject to editing for space, fairness and good taste.
Please keep them brief (up to one page, double-spaced or a maximum of 250 words), and please include your name and phone number for verification.
Send letters to thecommunicator@pef.org:
The Communicator
Public Employees Federation
P.O. Box 12414
Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414
Email to Sherry Halbrook, Editor or Darcy Wells, Editor-In Chief