FOP Day on the Hill 2010

The FOP Day on The Hill 2010 will begin on Monday, 8 February 2010. The National Legislative Office and the National Legislative Committee will host a short briefing on our legislative agenda at the District of Columbia Lodge #1 at 711 4th Street, NW. The briefing will take place on Monday afternoon and last approximately one hour. Additional details will be forthcoming.

Tuesday and Wednesday, 9-10 February, will be devoted to your meetings with Members from your home States and districts. These appointments should be made in advance!!! Event participants should make every effort to have their Representative or Senator attend the meeting along with the appropriate staff person.

Accommodations for Day on the Hill Participants
The National Legislative Office will be arranging a room block with a local hotel. We will make this information available as soon as possible—watch your email and the Grand Lodge website for the latest news!!

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FOP Provides Information on State Issue 1

The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, Inc. is providing links to information from Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray on Proposed State Issue 1 "Veterans Bonus".  The FOP of Ohio did not address this State Issue at its Annual Meeting in July, and therefore is not taking a stance on the issue.  Below are links to that information.

FAQs on Issue 1:  http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/About/FAQ/Veterans-Bonus-Amendment-FAQs

Issue 1 flyer:  http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/files/Publications/Publications-for-Military/Veterans-Bonus-Flier.aspx

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For Immediate Release
September 9, 2009
Contact: Jay Smith
(614) 224-5700

Dear Members,

The intent of this letter is to bring the FOP membership up to speed with regards to Ohio’s public pension systems.  At the request of the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC), each of the five public pension systems in Ohio were to draw up a plan to ensure the pension systems get to or retain it’s funding within the 30-year statutory requirement.  These plans, presented by each system, were presented today at the monthly ORSC meeting illustrating their current funding status and possible recommendations for legislative action within the requirements of Ohio law. 

Keep in mind that the ORSC requested these plans from the pension systems and the FOP has not taken a position on any of these current recommendations.  In fact the FOP has already met with some members of the ORSC and has meetings scheduled with every member of ORSC to highlight some of the positions we have taken in the past and encourage open communication should any of these recommendations be drafted into legislation.

Below are links to each of the five systems recommended plans for long-term sustainability and to ensure their system is compliant with the 30-year statutory requirement. 

I assure you that the FOP is taking and has taken steps to maintain the interests of our members, both active and retired, in supporting and maintaining our pensions and healthcare.  We have already held one focus group meeting with FOP leaders from around the state and plan to continue with this focus group the first week of October (exact time and date will be determined shortly).  As these issues progress we will keep you informed and up to date on any changes or legislative proposals that may be drafted.  Ultimately, these changes will need to be voted on by your locally elected representatives in the Ohio House and Senate.

Fraternally,

Mark Drum, Legislative Chairman

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For Immediate Release
June 10, 2009
Contact: Jay Smith
(614) 224-5700

FOP APPLAUDS SUPREME COURT ON RESIDENCY RULING

Columbus, Ohio- The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, Inc. applauds today’s decision by the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold state law barring cities from requiring employees to live within city limits.

In a 5-2 decision announced today the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed R.C. 9.481 that “no political subdivision shall require any of its employees, as a condition of employment, to reside in any specific area of the state”, pursuant to the authority granted by Section 34 of Ohio’s constitution.

“The residency requirements imposed upon employees by cities around the state were totally antiquated” commented Nick DiMarco, State President of the Fraternal Order of Police.  “Not only did they decrease the pool of quality employees within a city for hiring but they also created numerous hardships on families trying to make an honest living in Ohio” said DiMarco.  This decision is a culmination of a long term effort to provide our members with the basic right to live where they choose.

As Ohio’s largest association of law enforcement professionals with over 26,000 members, The Fraternal Order of Police are committed to improving the working conditions of those who dedicate their lives to protecting our communities and to improving the safety of those we protect.

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For Immediate Release
December 15, 2008
Contact: Jay Smith
(614) 224-5700

OP&F Requests Legislative Changes for 30-Year Funding Plan

The Ohio Police & Fire pension system sent a letter in early November to update and remind the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC) of the current status of its 30-year funding plan. On Wednesday, OP&F emphasized that all required benefits will be paid to its members now and in the future, however the economic downturn this year will jeopardize the real progress that has been made to become compliant with the state’s 30-year pension funding requirement.

According to William Estabrook, the ORSC member representing OP&F, the most recent actuarial valuations released in October and including numbers through January 1, 2008, shows continued steps toward complying with the requirement. The funding level improved from 78.2 percent to 81.7 percent, he reported.

The bottom fell out, according to Estabrook, because of devastating losses over the past six months. “With continued investment success and prudent business practices, we were progressing toward the 30-year funding within a manageable number of years without asking for legislative action,” he said. The losses have negated any positive movement and will be reflected in the next valuation.

The OP&F Board of Trustees and financial consultants, Estabrook said, are well positioned to react to movement within the stock markets, but “no one could have predicted the extent the devastating losses of the past six months would have on all institutional investors. In order for OP&F to meet the 30-year funding requirement in this economic climate, the legislative changes that have been identified within our ‘Shared Accountability Funding Plan’ need to be engaged.”

The changes include increasing revenue through graduated increases in both member and employer contribution rates. The last time contribution rates were increased for members and employers was 1986, Estabrook said.

Recognizing that the close of the 127^th General Assembly is only weeks away, the intent of the November letter was to recognize and reach out to ORSC to explain the nature of the issue and prepare for action to be pursued in the coming General Assembly.

OP&F has and will continue to update members of the details presented to the ORSC concerning this matter. Estabrook said the system will receive the latest financial status report at the close of 2008 and again submit a plan to comply with the required funding time period.

Ohio law established a 30-year period as a benchmark for measuring the long-term financial health of the retirement systems. Estabrook pointed out that it has been documented that at the time of OP&F’s formation, the system has been underfunded. “In fact, our funding level at that time was just 9 percent. By 1988 OP&F’s funding level had increased dramatically, but was still only 50 percent.”

He said diligent work along with the assistance of the General Assembly in providing investing provisions, resulted in tremendous advances in funding since that time. In 2002, OP&F’s funding period was a robust 28 years and within the statutory benchmark.

In other ORSC business, the council accepted staff recommendations for amending HB600 (R-Wachtmann), which would make changes to the purchasing of service credit provisions for the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System. The amendments as recommended would include the other retirement systems and a 90-day retirement requirement.

Because the bill has not had a hearing in the House, Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon) said he plans to introduce the bill again in the next General Assembly.

Richard Curtis, ORSC member representing the Highway Patrol Retirement System, gave an update on the investment report for the Ohio Based Brokers/Managers Report established under 125-SB133. The bill required full review of the pension systems and established how vendors access the systems with regards to communications and lobbyist representation. Further, the report outlines investment activities and guidelines along with an apples-to-apples comparison of the various pension systems.

Story originally published in The Hannah Report on December 10, 2008.  Copyright 2008 Hannah News Service, Inc.

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For Immediate Release
December 11, 2008
Contact: Jay Smith
(614) 224-5700

FOP SUCCESSFUL IN PASSING OPERS CREDIT TRANSFER LEGISLATION AND
EXPANDING PEACE OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS TO BCI & I AGENTS

SB 267 sponsored by Senator Keith Faber passed out of the Ohio General Assembly and is now on its way to the Governors desk for signing.

S.B. 267 makes two significant changes to the OPERS Law Enforcement (LE) program.  First, the bill authorizes the OPERS Board to adopt rules permitting members of the OPERS LE program to convert service credit in the state or local government division to service credit in the law enforcement or public safety division, provided the member pays 100% of the additional liability resulting from the service credit conversion.  Currently, the non-law time does not count toward the 25 years of law or public safety service credit necessary to qualify for retirement at age 48 or 52 respectively.  Instead, the non-law time is paid as a separate annuity benefit, refund, or may be combined with other service credit to qualify for retirement under the state or local government division.

Second, the bill modifies the employee contribution rate for law enforcement officers currently set in statute at 10.1% and instead allows the OPERS Board to set the employee contribution rate for members of the LE program.  This rate would initially be set at a rate that is not more than 1% above the rate charged to public safety officers (currently set at 10.1%) and could not be set at more than 2% above the current rate charged to public safety officers.

The combination of these two changes will improve the funded status of the OPERS LE program.  Current law requires Ohio’s retirement systems to amortize any unfunded, accrued pension liabilities within a 30-year period.  As a whole, OPERS is within the 30-year funding period required by statute.  However, if you look the law enforcement program on its own, the funding period is over the 30-year limit.  The net impact of SB 267 will be to improve the funded status of the LE program and to ensure that the enhanced benefits paid to our law and public safety officers are appropriately funded.

Lastly, the FOP was able to successfully amend SB 267 on the House Floor to include BCI & I Agents covered under the Ohio Public Safety Officers Death Benefit Fund.  Although we had some opposition from the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association, the arguments presented were not justified and the Ohio House and Senate voted the bill out of the General Assembly unanimously along with the amendment for our BCI & I agents.

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For Immediate Release
October 26, 2009
Contact: Jay Smith
(614) 224-5700

HOUSE BILL 46 - 127th AFFIDAVITS
House Bill 1 - 128th Affidavit

 With the passage of House Bill 1, the Auditor Affidavit has been updated.  It is available here.

HB1 - 128th General Assembly Auditor Affidavit. 

In response to the House Bill 46 becoming law, two Affidavits are now available.

Address Redact Request  and Auditor Affidavit

The Address Redact Request form is also available on the Ohio Attorney General’s website under the citizens action section of the forms page. 

http://www.ag.state.oh.us/legal/pubs/Request_to_Redact_Address.pdf

The Attorney General’s Affidavit is designed for removal of your personal residence information from public records that are made available to the public on the internet. 

The Auditor’s Affidavit can be used to change the described property on the general tax list of real and public utility property and the general duplicate of real and public utility property. 

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Ohio Update

Week in Review

Click here for February 22, 2010

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National Update

Visit www.fop.net for information on the National FOP Legislative Program.

Jay A. Smith
Director of Governmental Affairs
Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, Inc.
222 East Town Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Office: (614)224-5700
Fax: (614)224-5775

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