I am running for the Public Employees Retirement Association Board ( PERA ). Ballots will be arriving at your home January 2-10, 2023. If elected I will represent the Retirees, Disabled and Survivor beneficiaries of the PERA pension with all of the passion I have given to the members in my previous stewardship's . I would greatly appreciate your vote. Experience : Detention Deputy,  Hennepin County Sheriff's Office ,   Hennepin County Jail 1990 to 2016. Union Steward  Teamsters Local 320 mid 1990's - 2011. Elected as a  National Delegate  to the 2011 International Brotherhood of Teamsters Convention. Union Steward  Minnesota Public Employees Association (MNPEA) 2011-2015. Served as an  advisor to the Minnesota Senate's   Telecommunicators Pension Benefits Working Group   2021. President Minnesota Correctional Officer Retirement Association   MNCORA   Over the years I have negotiated numerous Labor Contracts with Hennepin County. I have represen

  Alpha news is reporting that   According to data from the  U.S. Census Bureau , the state of Minnesota lost 19,400 residents to domestic migration from July 2021 to July 2022. and  American Experiment economist John Phelan attributed the domestic migrations to the high-tax policies of Gov. Tim Walz. “Once again Minnesota experienced an alarming loss of people to other states,” he said in a statement. “These numbers ought to wake Gov. Walz up to the scale of the problem and underline the need for bold measures. We should use the forecast budget surplus to cut tax rates, which  research  shows influence where people locate.” MNCORA agrees! With a $17.6 billion surplus we are being overtaxed and retirees among others are fleeing! MNCORA believes neither pensions nor Social Security should be taxed. Retirees have supported this high tax state all of their working years and deserve a break. Especially when inflation is outpacing their income. 

President Wade Laszlo and the MNCORA Executive Board wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We look forward to serving you in the upcoming year!

 I attended the PERA meeting on December 8th. As you can imagine with the markets being the way they are the PERA Correctional Plan fund performed at a -6.4% for 2022. Compare that to a +30.3% in 2021. In short our fund lost money last year.  Currently the Actuarial Rate of Return (expected income from investments) is at 7.5% (set by the legislature) . Because of what the markets are doing PERA  recommended that the legislature investment return assumption be lowered to between 5.64 and 6.55. This does not reflect what money actually comes in but gives PERA an idea of how healthy the funds are. If the actuarial return assumptions do end up in the 6% range it's possible for our funding to drop below 85% . If that happens for more than 2 years our COLA drops down to 1-1.5% depending on the Social Security Cost of living! Currently we're at 2.5%! PERA Executive Director Doug Anderson pointed out if our COLA drops there is NO mechanism to bring it back up to 2.5% without legislat

Minnesota has a projected $17.6 billion surplus . This means Minnesotan's are way over taxed.  Last session there were Bills to exempt our PERA pension from State income tax. This surplus reiterates that we are over taxed. Our 2.5% COLA doesn't keep up with 8% inflation.  Also M innesota is one of the few States that taxes Social Security. It's time to drop the Social Security tax on retirees. Last session that almost got done until Governor Walz phone call ended the session. Retirees already have shrinking income due to inflation. We shouldn't have to give more to the taxman. MNCORA will be very active this session!