Resolutions
REAFFIRMED RESOLUTIONS FROM 2011
RESOLUTION 1
BE IT RESOLVED THAT this organization reaffirms its total support of the defined benefit pension, not only for public employees, but for all working Americans.
(RATIONALE: The defined benefit is one of the three legs of a secure retirement plan, and it has been determined to be more economical for the employer than the defined contribution program.)
RESOLUTION 2
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the TRA Fund be elevated to full funding status, with the responsibility for attaining this goal to be equally assigned to the state, the local school district, and the pension beneficiaries.
(RATIONALE: The State of Minnesota, as the ultimate employer of all public employees, did not become part of the May 2010 “reform” requirements.)
RESOLUTION 3
BE IT RESOLVED THAT this organization continue to oppose any privatization of Social Security, and that the president and the congress be informed that a reduction in Social Security and railroad retirement benefits as a solution to a federal deficit problem is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.
(RATIONALE: Social Security payments to its beneficiaries have absolutely no effect on the budget deficit, and we must avoid at all costs fixing something that ain’t broken.)
RESOLUTION 4
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the legislature of this state provide a 2.5% annual adjustment in pension benefits when the actuarial funding ratio reaches 90%, a full CPI adjustment when that ratio reaches 100%, and an additional distribution to the beneficiaries (by a 13th check) whenever it reaches 105%.
(RATIONALE: This will allow the Fund to avoid the mistakes of the last two decades while recognizing that excess proceeds from investments belong to the beneficiaries.)
RESOLUTION 5
BE IT RESOLVED THAT this organization, as a stakeholder in all matters affecting member pensions, be allowed full input into relevant actions by Retirement Associations, the State Board of Investment, and the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement.
(RATIONALE: While the associations and legislative commission allow testimony, this is limited access.)
OLD BUT RELEVANT RESOLUTIONS:
RESOLUTION 6
BE IT RESOLVED that the legislature provide for the appointment of one retiree member to the Investment Advisory Council from each of the three largest public retirement associations.
(Rationale: The billions of dollars belonging to the members of the public retirement associations are controlled by a four-member State Board of Investment, yet not one person on the 17-member Investment Advisory Council is selected by those members.)
RESOLUTION 7
BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature be urged to add an additional retired member to the Teacher Retirement Association's Board of Trustees.
(Rationale: Retired teachers own more than half of the money that falls under the authority of the TRA, yet they hold only one of the five teacher positions.)
NEW RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE GOVERNING BOARD IN 2011:
RESOLUTION 8
WHEREAS the present market rate assumption for Minnesota public pensions is a statutory 8.5%, and
WHEREAS the TRA fund will have a 30-year amortization period in which to attain full-funding status, and
WHEREAS the Minnesota State Board of Investment has returned an annualized 10.13% over the past thirty years, and
WHEREAS an assumption of 8% would add $1.26 billion in liabilities (6%) for TRA, thus dropping the actuarial funding ratio from 78% to 74% and decreasing the contribution deficiency for active teachers by another 2.6%, and
WHEREAS these figures would totally wipe out the savings from the May 2010 COLA cap and freeze imposed on TRA retirees, and
WHEREAS the change in assumption to 8.0% will result in an unnecessary increase in contributions (for active teachers and local property taxpayers) or an equally unnecessary decrease in benefits (for retirees, survivors and disabled) or BOTH
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Education Minnesota Retired oppose any reduction in the Statutory Interest Assumption of 8.5%,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization attempt to get cooperation from other stakeholders in Minnesota public pensions.
RESOLUTION 9
WHEREAS the attacks on Social Security have been expanded to include the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ method of computing the cost of living, and
WHEREAS the “substitution” gimmick, whereby increases in costs can be hidden by replacing apples with oranges in the hypothetical shopping basket, cannot be allowed to expand into such substitutions as bicycles for automobiles, and
WHEREAS any tampering which shrinks the increase in costs to American families actually represents a loss of income in real dollars,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this organization oppose any change in COLA computations that could negatively affect Social Security and pension benefits.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be shared with all applicable affiliated organizations.
RESOLUTION 10
WHEREAS attacks on public and private pensions have reduced retirement security for the majority of working Americans, and
WHEREAS traditional Defined Benefit Plans have been replaced by Defined Contribution and/or “Hybrid” Plans that combine features of the two,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that any pension plan offered as a replacement for the traditional Defined Benefit Plan contain at least the following provisions:
*** Guaranteed life-long coverage
*** Sharing of market risk between employer and employee
*** Matching, at minimum, of employee contributions by the employer
*** Investing by independent professionals
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be shared with all applicable affiliated organizations.
RESOLUTION 11
WHEREAS the Constitution of the United States guarantees the right to vote to all citizens of legal age unless otherwise individually denied through due process of law, and
WHEREAS the courts have consistently thrown out legal barriers to that right, and
WHEREAS there are many ways to determine the identity of prospective voters, and
WHEREAS Minnesota's voter turnout records regularly lead the nation, and
WHEREAS there is little record of voter fraud in this state,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Education Minnesota Retired oppose the effort to place a voter ID requirement in the Constitution of the State of Minnesota,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be shared with all affiliated organizations.
Moved : Larry Koenck
Seconded: Alice Faribault
Passed unanimously at the Education Minnesota Retired Annual Meeting on April 27, 2012.