MNCORA's Executive Board met on December 19, 2023 Representative Niska met with LCPR Executive Director Susan Lenczewski that morning to author the Bill to add a seat on the PERA Board for a Correctional Officer. Rep. Niska's legal assistant Mitchel Fischer sent us the following email: Rep. Niska got back to me, and it is confirmed, Susan will be helping him draft a bill for a corrections officer’s spot during the upcoming session. If you are interested in knowing more in-depth details I would suggest reaching out to Niska’s email and I or he can try to set a phone call or something for you to talk to him. Congratulations on getting this bill started rolling! Our next step will be to get a State Senator to sponsor the Bill and once there's a Bill number and for everyone to contact their Representatives and Senators to support it. Thank you Representative Niska and Susan Lenczewski

There are currently 2 open seats on the PERA Board. MNCORA encourages our members to apply. The first is the  ELECTED GENERAL MEMBERSHIP REPRESENTATIVE. This spot was vacated by Trustee Rupp and is an elected spot open to any PERA member working in the General Group, Police and Fire and CORRECTIONAL PLAN . This is a member elected position. The second opening is the  APPOINTED RETIRED ANNUITANT REPRESENTATIVE. This is a Governor appointment. To apply click here:  https://mnpera.org/news/2024-board-candidates/ We are still working to secure a dedicated seat for a PERA Correctional Plan member on the Board.

Once again there's a group who thinks that the money we've paid into our pensions is their pot of gold. It's bad enough there's pressure at the State Board of Investors (SBI) to invest using ESG standards , now there's pressure from protest groups to pull some of our investments, not for fiduciary reasons, but political. On November 30th Alpha News reported, " A few dozen Twin Cities-based leftist activists involved in an ongoing anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement called for the Minnesota State Board of Investment —  whose members  include Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison — to pull the state government’s investments out of businesses associated with the Israel-Hamas war Wednesday." The SBI's job is to invest our money wisely for maximum return. The standard of living of Retirees already shrinks yearly as the rate of inflation outpaces our annual COLA's. We don't need further reductions due to poor inve