Skip to main content

Rep. Wolgamott Authors bill HF4796 allowing a Dispatch raid on the PERA Correctional Plan

Representatives Dan Wolgamott, Brion Curran and Luke Frederick have authored Bill HF4796 which will add 911 Dispatchers to the PERA Correctional Plan. 

Those behind the raid are AFSCME Council 5, LELS and Teamsters Local 320. They are all ignoring the study the MN Senate paid for in 2022 which did not recommend adding dispatchers to the Correctional plan. To our knowledge none of these Unions have consulted their Correctional Plan members.

Adding them could jeopardize the health of the PERA Correctional Plan.

Below is the letter MNCORA sent the PERA Board for their hearing on March 14 opposing it. AFSCME, LELS and Teamsters all submitted letters supporting this!

Contact Rep. Wolgamott and ask him to withdraw the Bill! rep.dan.wolgamott@house.mn.gov 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Anderson and PERA Trustees:

The Minnesota Correctional Officer Retirement Association (MNCORA) opposes the addition of 911 Dispatchers to the PERA Correctional Plan.

This plan was established in 1999 for PERA Correctional Officers. Stated on PERA’s own website is the definition of who the plan is for:

The Correctional Plan was established in 1999 for correctional officers serving in county and regional adult and juvenile correctional facilities due to the physical nature of their jobs. The members of this plan are responsible for the security, custody and control of the facilities and their inmates. (PERA Correctional Plan Handbook)

911 Dispatchers are not responsible for “the security, custody and control of the facilities and their inmates.” There is no physical nature to their jobs. They are not assaulted, murdered or exposed to diseases from inmates on their jobs. As a matter of fact they have zero contact with inmates. They sit in an office setting.

The PERA Correctional Plan is for Corrections Officers. It is the best funded and run.

Due to its financial strength PERA Correctional Officers COLA is 2.5% compared to just 1.5% of the Dispatchers current plan.

PERA Correctional Plan members should not be required to carry non-corrections

members in their plan. Doing so jeopardizes its financial strength and endangers the 2.5% COLA.

Also of major importance is the fact that on January 1, 2025 the Federal Government will recognize and reclassify all State and Local Corrections Officers as Public Safety Officers. The same classification Police have. This will give additional disability and tax benefits to Corrections Officers, not dispatchers.

The PERA Correctional plan, if 911 Dispatchers are added, would have the burden of different disability payouts and taxation. Furthermore, most Correctional Officer disabilities are physical, most dispatch disabilities are stress and PTSD related. Once a Dispatcher, if allowed in the Correctional Plan, files for PTSD Disability that would immediately come out of the Correctional Plan, a plan they have not paid into rather than their current plan. This is a threat to the PERA Correctional Plans’ financial stability.

For these and numerous other reasons the Minnesota Correctional Officer Retirement Association opposes the addition of 911 Dispatchers to the PERA Correctional Plan.

Signed,

The MNCORA Executive Board

Popular posts from this blog

Correctional Officers Federally Recognized as Public Safety Employees

As of January 1, 2025,  Correctional Officers are Federally Recognized as Public Safety Employees   the same as Police and Fire.  This has implications for disability, taxes and retirement. As we face new challenges to our pension in 2025 this will further the distinction between PERA General Plan members like 911 Dispatch and Probation and CO's in the PERA Correctional Plan. It's part  of the Secure Act 2.0. 26 USC § 72(t)()(10)  definition of Public Safety Employee - qualified public safety employee (10) Distributions to qualified public safety employees and private sector firefighters (A) In general In the case of a distribution to a qualified public safety employee from a governmental plan (within the meaning of section 414(d) ) or a distribution from a plan described in clause (iii), (iv), or (vi) of section 402(c)(8)(B) to an employee who provides firefighting services, paragraph (2)(A)(v) shall be applied by substituting “age 50 or 25 years of service u...

New Bill for Corrections seat on the PERA Board

MNCORA thanks Representatives Peggy Scott and House Leader Harry Niska for Authoring HF708 in the House and senators Cal Bahr and Jim Abeler for authoring the bill in the Senate SF1556 . Next step is for the LCPR to hear this Bill. Here's a link to the Pension Committee (LCPR). It's very important to contact them and ask them to give it a hearing for it to move on. https://www.lcpr.mn.gov/members.htm

PERA Board votes against CO seat-arguments. What's next and options

  On December 12, 2024 the PERA Executive Board voted unanimously not to  support legislation to add a Correctional Officer seat to the PERA Board. This is disappointing but will not dissuade MNCORA from again seeking a Bill with the Legislature. I would like to counter some of the PERA Boards arguments. At the planning meeting and in PERA's letter they argued that adding a seat would make the number on the Board even. So, we revised our proposal to add an additional Retiree seat. After all retirees are almost 30% of PERA membership and Retirees have only one member elected seat. In their letter they state, “ The current makeup of the board is 6 member positions to 3 employer positions, adding additional board members representing member groups would weigh the board’s makeup further towards the membership .” Not exactly true. It’s an 11 person board. Source PERA 2023 PFAR The 11 person Board is made up of 5 seats that are appointed by the Governor and one more is th...