Author Archives: Arkansas State Employees Association

About Arkansas State Employees Association

ASEA is a non-partisan, non-profit, non-union, membership-driven association that advocates on behalf of Arkansas state employees, and provides exclusive benefits to its members.

EBD meeting news and update

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ASEA was in attendance at yesterday’s EBD board meeting. Attached is a link to the presentation. Pay particular attention to pages 11,12, and 14.

We will post the next EBD meeting info once it is released.

John Bridges
2-monthly-presentation-20210323-board-of-directorsCLICK LINK TO THE LEFT

Senate Bill 162

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SB162 – TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE TERMINATION PERIOD REQUIRED FOR RETIREMENT UNDER THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.

https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=SB162&chamber=Senate&ddBienniumSession=2021%2F2021R

ASEA’s interpretation is that it would allow retired employees with specialized knowledge to return to work when needed like in a legislative session.

Results of today’s EBD meeting

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Today in the EBD board meeting they adopted the new proposals from yesterday’s insurance committee meeting as they were stated. 

In case you missed it in our Facebook post, here they are:

• Delay moving to Medicare D for one year.

• 65 and older will receive a 5% premium increase.

• Those who voluntarily move to Medicare D this year will receive a $25 monthly premium discount.

ASEA is working on creating a focus group made up of retirees to research options to help keep the fund financially stable. There was also discussion from the EBD board about starting working on the plan and a detailed report to include breaking the data out into tiers, and providing a timeline in advance of their October meeting so they all have time to think on it and try to come up with ideas.

Check out tomorrow’s newspaper, our Executive Director John Bridges may be quoted. Here’s what he said:

What we’ve heard from the retired members of ASEA is that they are happy with the support they received in yesterday’s insurance committee meeting and most will likely be ok with today’s EBD board decision to delay removing them this year from the state’s pharmacy plan. In the span of a year, retired state employees have had to fight to keep their retirement benefit whole and now their health insurance benefit was almost reduced, so many say they feel like they are being singled out.

ASEA will form its own focus group made up of retirees from across the state to find alternative solutions to hopefully help improve the financial stability of the plan. Then they will present it to EBD and the Insurance committee that is tasked with trying to keep the plan stable beyond 2022. We look forward to working with all parties involved with this issue.

APERS Board Meeting

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The next APERS board meeting will be held on May 20th, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.

The board will discuss ideas for their 2021 legislative packages. Now you can watch it virtually via your phone or computer with the free Zoom software. Click here to install: https://zoom.us/

You must register beforehand to attend the meeting virtually. Click here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ftBoXpRRRheMBMKJYOmmQg

Email John Bridges our Executive Director with any questions or issues: jbridges@aseaar.org