On February 15th the 911 Telecommunicators Pension Benefits Working Group made their presentation to the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement .  MNCORA submitted a letter  into written testimony and MNCORA President Wade Laszlo testified before the Commission on behalf of MNCORA defending the PERA Correctional Pension. Below is the entire presentation MNCORA testimony begins around the 17:53 time mark with another vital point made at the 25:20 mark. This was a hearing only. It is unclear at this point what recommendations if any will come out of this presentation. MNCORA will be monitoring.

 MNCORA sent our opposition letter along with opposition letters from the Hennepin County Detention Deputies and three PERA Correctional Plan Retirees. More are coming. At the November 16 meeting of the 911 Telecommunicators Pension Benefit Working Group, the Chair, Darlene Pankonie stated they had gone off the rails by only considering the PERA Correctional Plan as the only option to the General Plan. She said they were tabling the PERA Correctional Plan and would explore other options. While this is good news this is not the time to get complacent. The current Working Group established by SF2485 creating the Working Group came out of SF2198 which sought to "Transfer 911 Telecommunicators from the general plan to the correctional plan." And don't forget Senator Bigham authored both bills. SF2485 states, "The recommended changes may include, but are not limited to moving 911 telecommunicators to the correctional plans." Tabled does not mean gone!

 This is the Workgroup that will make recommendations to the LCPR regarding adding or not adding  911 Telecommunicators to the PERA Correctional Pension. Here's the link  https://www.lcpr.mn.gov/documents/911WorkGroup/911_Telecommunicator_Working_Group_Contact_List.pdf Let's break it down. Before we do let's point out upfront NOT ONE member of this group with voting powers is a PERA or MSRS Correctional retiree! We will concentrate on those who are actual Workgroup Members with the ability to vote. The Chair is Darlene Pankonie . She is listed as the  MN APCO or NENA of MN representative. These are 911 Dispatch organizations.  Darlene is the 911 Communications Division Mananger Washington County Sheriff's Office for the last 13 years. Prior to that she dispatched for the City of Minneapolis for 4 years. As far as we can ascertain she has not dispatched a 911 call for 13 years. During workgroup meetings she has frequently referred to inmates or offenders a...