Our Hero!

Well, we all have our heroes, but today my hero is Senator John Andreason (R) Boise.  Senator Andreason is the Chairman of the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee, and he was responsible for killing the legislation to stop the PERSI Cola for retirees.  I know he had some help from a couple of the other Republicans and from the Democrats on the committee, but since the hearing was cancelled and we didn't see a vote, I can't give them credit here even though I'd like to. THANK YOU Senator Andreason! 

Thanks to all of our members and the members of the other organizations who helped by contacting the Senators on the committee.  Your voices were heard!  I know some of them received hundreds of emails and telephone calls.  

This just shows the importance of speaking in a collective voice when we talk to state legislators and when we vote for state legislators.  Having said that, we need more members so we can have an even stronger voice in the future.  I'm pretty sure there are some that will be trying to attack our PERSI plan again next year, but this time they will be trying to change it from a Defined Benefit plan to a Defined Contribution plan.  This is a terrible idea for many different reasons, not the least is that changing the plan over would actually cost the taxpayer more money.  If you want to know more about why that would be a bad idea, contact me donnayule.ipea@gmail.com  

While the majority of our members are state employees, we represent public employees in any sector, so if you work for a county, city, or any other entity that is a PERSI employer, you need to join with us.  Contact IPEA's office if you'd like to have a presentation at your workplace.