May 7, 2019, Minutes
Moraine Valley Community College Annuitants Association
Annual Spring Meeting
May 7, 2019
M202, MVCC, 3:00 pm
MINUTES
Attending: Balke, Bauhs, Bentley, Berrigan, Corradetti, D’Aversa, Gehrke, Gray, Hendricks, Hessler, Hodkowski, Koscielniak, Kuropas, Kuzma, Machon, Martig, McGinnis, McGreal, Moore, Phelan, Razor, Reis, Sievers, Strzelczyk, Tyler.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Sue Phelan.
Welcome and Call to Order: Peggy Machon
The meeting was called to order by Dr. Machon at 3:08 p.m.
P. Machon welcomed everyone to the meeting and shared the Retiree Reception was happening at the same time as this meeting. All of the retirees were invited to this meeting, but of course, needed to attend their celebratory reception! Some retirees have already joined the MVCC Annuitants Chapter.
Message from Dr. Jenkins: Joe Kennedy was re-elected and John Coleman is mid-term on the board. New Board members include: Bernadette Barratt and Beth McElroy-Kirkwood (6-year terms) and Patricia Murphy (2-year term).
The college is celebrating its 50th graduation ceremony this year on May 17, 2019. Dick Durbin will be the keynote speaker. There will likely be another Foundation luncheon in the fall. Dates will be finalized over the summer/early fall.
Approval of Minutes from Fall 2018 meeting: Sue Phelan
Minutes from the fall membership meeting (10/04/18) were presented for approval. Ricky Moore moved and Pat Bauhs seconded approval of the minutes with the corrections noted. The minutes were unanimously approved.
Treasurers Report: Steve Lebre — Treasurer’s Report was not available for this meeting.
A. Savings account/Balance: $2267.55
B. Checking account/Balance: $789.97
Membership Report: Membership Committee: Jane Corradetti/Doreen O’Brien/Nancy Bentley
Nancy Bentley reported:
A. 236 members. March 29–significant increase…has been running between 222 – 224. Highest membership totals in recent history.
B. Letters were sent to service award recipients at MVCC for 20 years of service or more.
C. MVCC Annuitants Association had a table at the October 2018 Benefits Fair.
D. Critically important that membership contact information is accurate and up to date.
a. Members may forward corrected contact information to Jane Corradetti
(corradetti1@comcast.net)
b. If you have already created an account, visit the SUAA web site (https://www.suaa.org/)
i. Log in
ii. Click on the Member Access link toward the top right of the screen.
c. If you have not yet created an account, a few additional steps are required. If you need
assistance, please contact Jane.
E. Fee for MVCCAA membership is $38; provides state partnership.
F. Membership is not limited to employees
P. Machon clarified the difference between SURS and SUAA. Also, the website has been
changed to correlate with language on SUAA website. From “retirees” to “annuitants.”
Spouses/significant others are also eligible to be members.
Questions? Please contact any member of the Membership Committee.
G. Representatives from MVCCAA and SUAA will participate in the October 2019 Employee
Benefits Fair to recruit current employees to join.
Legislative Report: Ricky Moore/Deb Sievers
Deb Sievers and Donna McCauley will join Ricky Moore on the Legislative Committee.
Currently proposed legislative action would cap increased salary for employees planning to retire at 3%. This action, if passed, would prevent employees from exceeding 3% cap in last year of retirement and would result in the college paying thousands of dollars in penalties. Pat Bauhs reported Linda Brookhart, SUAA Executive Director, is asking for examples of persons affected by 3% rule. Mike Wade suggested contacting Troy Swanson.
Governor Pritzker proposed adding a referendum to ask the voters to approve a Fair Tax component. If approved, property tax credit will increase 20% for anybody making over $250,000 income.
The membership was asked to recommend speakers for fall. Past speakers include Representative Kelly Burke and Representative Bill Cunningham. Suggested theme: What’s Hot? What’s Not? What’s Going On?
Web Report: Joyce Tyler/Sue Gray
Joyce Tyler–October minutes will be up on the website later this month. Nothing else to report. Joyce is moving to Gilford, NH, population 7000. Joyce will be living near the lake the movie What About Bob? was filmed. Joyce will continue to serve as web presence from NH. Peggy awarded Joyce with a token of the membership’s appreciation.
SUAA Report: Pat Bauhs/Nancy Bentley
Pat Bauhs: We are Region 1. At least once or twice a year, leaders from Region 1 meet to share information on issues affecting all chapters. Linda Brookhart attended the last Leader’s Meeting and about 15 representatives from all chapters were in attendance.
SUAA is now offering four $500 scholarships for annuitant family members, including grandchildren. Information on scholarships is on SUAA website or email Johnmedewald@sbcglobal.net for more information. The SUAA Foundation is also looking for new members.
SUAA Board: Carl Harrison (GSU), university representative for Region 1, will step down in June. Region 1 needs to identify a replacement candidate/s to run for University Representative, Region 1. (Update: Colleen Rock [GSU] won election.) Patricia Wenthold [Harper], Region 1 community college representative, will step down in June 2020. SUAA membership is down about 1,000 members.
The 3% rule is a concern, especially for employees in the Tier system. Tier I annuitants–benefits not affected by State concerns re: pensions. Anyone hired after 2011 is Tier II. Tier II individuals may participate in retirement system OR may participate in self-management system. The concern for Tier II people involves meshing Tier II retirement benefits with social security benefits. This change will also affect Tier III employees, but pension benefits have not yet been aligned with social security benefits for Tier III employees. This decision will affect the overall health of the pension system.
The annual meeting for SUAA is June 27 and 28 in Springfield. Pat invited persons who are interested to attend. One discussion item will be proposed revision to the bylaws and governance structure.
Nancy Bentley–Has served on bylaw committee and policies and procedures manual. At the last meeting, Attorney John Novak looked at the rights and responsibilities of the SUAA Board of Directors. There are over 100 members on the Board of Directors which is an unwieldy number. All of the Directors are liable for actions of the Board. At the end of the meeting, there was a motion passed to charge the Bylaw Committee to look at the governance structure and make some revisions. The proposed structure is to make the Executive Committee the Board of Directors and the membership would be delegates. This recommendation is open for comment until May 15, 2019. Revisions will be made based on feedback received. A vote to approve the final draft will be taken in June. The Bylaw Committee is characteristically composed of six persons; because of the size of the undertaking, the Bylaw Committee was expanded to 12 persons.
President’s Report: Peggy Machon
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) reached out to SUAA members. AFSCME is trying to grow their membership. Some folks approached Peggy with questions about the letter they received. Was AFSCME the same as SUAA? The “short answer” is no, and SUAA would like the opportunity to clarify the difference for members. Peggy encouraged MVCCAA members to continue to remain members of SUAA, who has worked diligently to protect our pension benefits.
Other–MVCCAA Scholarship
Two MVCCAA scholarships, each in the amount of $500, were awarded. Peggy received thank-you letters from scholarship award winners and asked Joyce to please post the recipient responses to the MVCCAA web site.
Guest Speaker: Presentation from Dr. Donna McCauley/Prof. Recreation Therapy/Sports Management
Generational Awareness: Dealing with Millennials and Beyond
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm