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: The Communicator Public Employees Federation P.O. Box 12414 Albany, N.Y. 12212-2414 email Denyce Duncan Lacy, Executive Editor The Communicator - Director of Public Relations dduncanlacy@pef.org Sherry Halbrook, Editor of The Communicator- shalbrook@pef.org The Communicator Home Page Agrees with writer of tax-cut letter To the Editor: It was refreshing to read the editorial from David Gallagher, regarding the federal tax cut. I couldn’t have worded it better myself. Decisions made for my family are best made in-house. It will be money well spent. Mark Norton Syracuse Deferred comp plan has its advantages To the Editor: This letter is to respond to a September letter to the editor that compares Roth IRAs to the New York state Deferred Compensation Plan. The author apparently prefers Roth IRAs to the plan because of the investment, distribution and tax characteristics they possess. While people will no doubt decide for themselves, for the purposes of comparison, it is important to consider a number of facts that were not included in the letter. The plan offers 26 quality investment options, along with additional services, at costs to participants that are significantly lower than those typically charged by providers of IRAs. The author’s opinion that a professionally managed account would have benefited participants’ performance during the recent market downturn is debatable. Two significant tax advantages of the plan that were not mentioned by the author warrant mention here. Unlike contributions to Roth IRAs, contributions to the plan are made on a pre-tax basis. Also, unlike distributions from IRAs, distributions from the plan before the age of 59 1/2 are not subject to a 10 percent penalty tax. No description of the plan would be complete without mentioning the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). The pension provisions included in EGTRRA, which passed thanks to the efforts of PEF and others, will provide participants in the plan with unprecedented benefits, including increased contribution limits and new flexibility in distributions. Julian M. Regan, Executive Director NYS Deferred Compensation Plan Benefits help appreciated To the Editor: I would like to thank PEF and especially the efforts of health benefits specialist Lorraine Simpkins and my local steward Richard Grebe on my behalf. I am a kidney-transplant recipient and recently experienced problems with my employee health insurance when my Medicare benefits terminated three years after my transplant. The Empire Plan refused to acknowledge its primary-insurer responsibilities and declined payment for medical services. The mix-up occurred when my regional personnel administrator failed to notify the Employee Benefits Division of Civil Service of my health care change. Consequently, no one was paying my medical bills. After working through agency channels and getting nowhere, I turned to PEF. Grebe and Simpkins assessed the problem and went to work with the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and Civil Service to rectify the problem. After many months of correspondence and telephone calls, my employee health benefits have been restored. Grebe and Simpkins did an outstanding job beyond their normal duties and I am very much indebted to them and PEF for representing me. They are indeed a credit to PEF and should be commended for their valuable service and assistance to union members such as myself. I am proud to be a member of PEF. Thank you. James R. Papero Plattsburgh