MI-SERA

Chair Talk

November 2015

By Bob Kopasz

On October 27, 2015 Gov. Rick Snyder signed an Executive Order (Executive Order 2015-13) creating the State of Michigan Retirement Board. This Board is a consolidation of the State Employees’ Retirement System Board, the Judges’ Retirement System Board and the Military Retirement Provisions. The Board will provide oversight of the three systems that service nearly 88,000 active and retired employees. This new Retirement Board has an effective date of 1-1-2016. The Board will be made up of nine members. Those members are identified in the Governor’s Press release dated October 27, 2015. The Executive Order can be found at: www.michigan.gov/snyder.

Mary Pollock and I attended the Coordinated Compensation Panel Hearing on Tuesday, November 3rd. The CCP is made up of the 3 members of the Employee Relations Board. Mary had attended those hearings before—while I was a first-timer. The Panel hears wage and benefit requests from the LRO’s (Limited Recognition Organizations). These are the organizations that advocate for NERE’s (Non-exclusively represented employees). The organizations that made presentations to the Panel were ASEM (Association of State Employees in Management), MAGE (Michigan Association of Government Employees) and MSPCOA (Michigan State Police Command Officers Association). The Director of the Office of the State Employer was also in attendance. As a first-timer it was an educational experience for me. I was impressed with the process, the presentations that were made, and the questions/comments by the Panel and responses by the organizations and the State Employer. In my years as a state employee I was a union member and enjoyed the fruits of the collective bargaining process.

The SERA-Plus program (Hantz Group) has recruited over 400 new members for various SERA Chapters in the state. Hantz is providing many informational seminars throughout the state to educate our members in various matters that concern us. If you have the opportunity to attend one of the seminars I would suggest you do so. I look forward to working closely with the Hantz Group in recruitment programs as well as educational seminars for our members.

Don’t forget to get your flu shot this fall!!

Editor’s note: Bob Kopasz is Chair of the Michigan SERA Council. He may be reached at P.O. Box 692, Mt. Morris, MI 48458; phone 810/240-8380.


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November 2015 By Bob Kopasz On October 27, 2015 Gov. Rick Snyder signed an Executive Order (Executive Order 2015-13) creating the State of Michigan Retirement Board. This Board is a consolidation of the State Employees’ Retirement System Board, the Judges’ Retirement System Board and the Military Retirement Provisions. The Board will provide oversight of the three systems that service nearly 88,000 active and retired employees. This new Retirement Board has an effective date of 1-1-2016. The Board will be made up of nine members. Those members are identified in the Governor’s Press release dated October 27, 2015. The Executive Order can be found at: www.michigan.gov/snyder. Mary Pollock and I attended the Coordinated Compensation Panel Hearing on Tuesday, November 3rd. The CCP is made up of the 3 members of the Employee Relations Board. Mary had attended those hearings before—while I was a first-timer. The Panel hears wage and benefit requests from the LRO’s (Limited Recognition Organizations). These are the organizations that advocate for NERE’s (Non-exclusively represented employees). The organizations that made presentations to the Panel were ASEM (Association of State Employees in Management), MAGE (Michigan Association of Government Employees) and MSPCOA (Michigan State Police Command Officers Association). The Director of the Office of the State Employer was also in attendance. As a first-timer it was an educational experience for me. I was impressed with the process, the presentations that were made, and the questions/comments by the Panel and responses by the organizations and the State Employer. In my years as a state employee I was a union member and enjoyed the fruits of the collective bargaining process. The SERA-Plus program (Hantz Group) has recruited over 400 new members for various SERA Chapters in the state. Hantz is providing many informational seminars throughout the state to educate our members in various matters that concern us. If you have the opportunity to attend one of the seminars I would suggest you do so. I look forward to working closely with the Hantz Group in recruitment programs as well as educational seminars for our members. Don’t forget to get your flu shot this fall!! Editor’s note: Bob Kopasz is Chair of the Michigan SERA Council. He may be reached at P.O. Box 692, Mt. Morris, MI 48458; phone 810/240-8380.
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