What MARSP Has Done for You
1. Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) began in 1945.
2. Michigan Association of School Personnel (MARSP) was established in 1951, 73 years ago.
3. When legislation was written for MPSERS, MARSP advocated for dental, hearing, and eye coverage. These benefits were ultimately covered in our health care benefits.
4. It was a MARSP initiative for retirees who selected the MIP benefit to receive a 3% increase in the fall.
5. In 2011, our state legislature developed legislation that would have defunded MPSERS.
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Lansing’s leadership asked MARSP what impact defunding would have on MPSERS participants. That would be .
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MARSP’s testimony led to maintaining MPSERS and the creation of other retirement options for those hired after July 1, 2012.
6. Occasionally, there is a small mindset among some branches of Lansing’s legislature who think all school retirees receive a large, yearly pension of $50,000.
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This happened again in 2013-2014. They were in the process of balancing the budget. They thought school retirees could afford a monetary cut in their health benefits.
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MARSP quickly stopped this from happening by showing them the facts and figures. They left our benefits alone.
7. In 2017, the state legislature considered halting the subsidy for MPSERS health coverage.
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This would have resulted in our insurance premium going from $1,000 to $1,500 each month for the same coverage.
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MARSP and MARSP members communicated to legislators and the governor, their opposition to this critical change.
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Negotiations began and MARSP was the ONLY retirement organization involved in the negotiations. The subsidy remained intact!
8. MARSP was very active in advocating for the retiree pension tax repeal by having conversations with key officials.
9. Michigan’s prior term limits policy made it possible for a House Representative (elected every 2 years) or Senator (every 4 years) to be voted out of office after a short period of time.
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MARSP spends time educating new politicians on school retiree’s pensions and health insurance benefits.
MARSP’s advocacy has guided the thinking and actions of legislators for decades.
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All the above statements are some of the ways MARSP has protected the earnings of public school retirees.
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new retirees, retaining current members, and regaining members whose renewals have expired will continue to be an effective advocate for all of us and future retirees.
If I can help in any way, please call me at 989-368-2346, talk to me at a meeting, or email me at ecsmith06@hotmail.com.
As always,
Liz
June 11, 2024
