MEA & The Retirement System

Twice this year, the MEA has taken the field to defend the health benefits for retired teachers. The first time was against a proposal by state controller Ed Karass to shift the burden of paying for retirees health benefits from the state to local school districts. This proposal was successfully thwarted by the MEA staff, notably Executive Director Mark Gray and lobbyist Steve Crouse. The defeat of the proposal required extraordinary attention to detail and preparation, but these guys are extraordinary gentlemen.

The more recent effort was a proposal to park $128 million that the Governor's budget allocated for retiree health benefits in the general purpose aid for education while a study was conducted on what share of the health benefits ( if any) should be shifted to local communities. Steve Crouse sent out an email alert asking for members to contact legislators. The response was overwhelming (that strength in numbers thing). The offending provision was removed before the budget passed.

When we look at what we get for our dues money, government relations seems pretty remote. Yet the effect on both retirees and local school budgets if retired teachers' health care were shifted to local districts would be crippling. I'm glad our association was there to stop those proposals.