And hope. In checking around I've learned that the first thing that happens in a Special Session of the Legislature is a review of all bills vetoed by the Governor in the previous regular session. This means that SB 897 - the PERS "clean up your act" bill - will get reviewed again in the special session in January/February. This makes it imperative that we contact each of our own legislators (first in the Senate, then in House) and urge them to hold firm in their original votes to pass this bill. If we can retain all the votes SB 897 got during the regular session (100% of those voting in both bodies), the Governor's veto can be overturned. As soon as Labor Day passes and the silly season begins (always the day after Labor Day), you can consider writing a letter urging continued support for SB 897. This bill is common sense. It calls for PERS to take some responsibility for its estimates and actually work to assure members and retirees that they have ACCURATE information upon which to make a life-altering decision. This bill's statutes would not take effect until 2011, which gives PERS plenty of time to develop the QA mechanisms required for accuracy. We cannot tolerate the "eets not my job mon" attitude of PERS any longer. Customer service and honest representation of your trustees should not be that big a headache.
1 comment:
While it can't possibly change the chance for the Legislature to over ride Ted's veto of SB 897, what do you think of John Kitzhaber's choice to run again for governor? Is this something that could be good news for PERS retirees, or just more of the same?
I am so completely disillusioned by Ted that *anybody* else seems to look good. On my worst days I actually wonder if Mannix could have actually hurt us any worse than Ted did. Given all your experience, I'm interested how this looks to you, Marc.
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