
Author Archives: Arkansas State Employees Association
New bill
This is our bill created by our retirees working group. It expands the board to include retiree and active members, creates legislative oversight, and increases the cap the state contributes.
https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=Hb1337&ddBienniumSession=2021%2F2021R&Search=
New bill
This bill expands the APERS board to include a member elected by the members. Please read.
https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2021R%2FPublic%2FHB1283.pdf
EBD meeting today
We attended the EBD board meeting today at 1pm; no news to share, we will keep you posted with future meetings and any news.
Meetings
In case you missed this meeting Friday, here’s a recap. There will be an EBD board meeting via zoom tomorrow from 1-3pm, attached is the agenda and we will provide a recap afterwards. To see the video from this morning’s 8:30am meeting where Duncan Baird mentions ASEA, visit this link and click on the video icon: https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ Start at 25 minutes.




Meetings
Meetings this week: https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/
Senate Bill 162
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
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 and ASEA in the News.
ASEA is proud to be the only association to represent active and retired state employees at yesterday’s APERS board meeting. Thank you to every board member for their thoughtful consideration when moving forward towards a decision.
Click here for the full article in the ArkDemGaz: https://bit.ly/2XfTYPn
Join ASEA today! http://www.aseaar.org
APERS Board Meeting
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