Chair Talk
November 2017
I have received several phone calls, e-mails and a couple letters about the recent change in the State’s new accounting system. The new system went into effect on October 2, 2017. The letter from Treasury (dated October 23, 2017) was sent to financial institutions. A copy of the letter will be posted on mi-sera.org and included with the mailings to SERA Chapter Presidents and delegates.
The Auto No-Fault Insurance reform bill (HB 5013) was rejected (63 – 55) on Thursday, November 2nd. SERA opposed the bill in its present form. Mary Pollock will have detailed information in her Capitol News report.
Every state retiree should have noticed an increase in their October pension payment. State retirees receive a statutory 3% (capped at $25 monthly/$300 annually) each October.
SERA has been approached by attorney Patrick Rose to consider signing on to an amicus brief in support of the Voters Not Politicians ballot drive. It is believed that if the ballot drive gets enough signatures and is placed on the ballot that there will be groups that will go to court to block having it placed on the ballot. The SERA CC delegates voted to give Mary Pollock and I the ability to explore the amicus brief issue and decide if we want to go with Attorney Rose or possibly align SERA with another group.
Although the Okrie vs State of Michigan case has been denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr Okrie intends to continue his fight against the unfair pension tax. Tom Okrie would like our help by having us write a letter to the Supreme Court. The letter would contain just the following:
WHY NOT DOCKET #17-34?
The address of the Supreme Court is:
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First St., NE
Washington, DC 20543
It only takes a few minutes to do this and costs 49 cents to mail the letter. I’ve done mine — please do yours.
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.