Taking control of
our pension
At the NJ State PBA Mini-Convention in Atlantic City on March 7,
PBA Director of Government Affairs Rob Nixon gave a presentation
about Senate Bill 3040, which, when passed, will transfer manage-
ment of the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) to a board of
trustees, the majority of whom will be selected by members of PFRS.
This plan will take our future and our money out of the hands of the
Division of Pensions – which the state controls with parties appoint-
JIM
ed by the governor, and which has consistently mismanaged the pen-
TOMA
sion, lost revenue and paid exorbitant fees to friends and politically
connected firms.
We have placed the entire presentation on our Local 600 website. Members should
view this information, which explains the bill in detail and answers many of the
questions we all have. I strongly support this change and firmly believe it is the only
way to keep our pension system solvent, and is the best way, and quickest way, to
restore our COLA.
If you view the presentation and still have questions, please let me know and I will
make sure they are answered.
Local 600 annual scholarships
Applications are now being accepted for 10 individual college scholarships of $500
Local 600 awards each year. The scholarships are available to children and grandchil-
dren of retired PBA members who are members in good standing of Local 600.
Applications must be completed and submitted to the scholarship committee no
later than April 30.
Winners will be announced at our May 9 meeting, and scholarships will be award-
ed at the June 13 meeting.
See the application on the website for further details and instructions.
Email blast
We continue to ask all members to sign up for our email blasts. Please be aware
when signing up to wait for the “Thank-you confirmation” before exiting, or the re-
quest will not go through. This is the most efficient and quickest way to notify mem-
bers of important information we need to get out immediately.
Dental plan update
Dental plan progress is continuing slow and steady. We are now moving existing
members’ data and accounts over to the new plan administrators, which will be fol-
lowed by open enrollment for new members.
As I mentioned previously, we are probably talking about April for new members
to enroll. We are still working on getting all procedures in place. All members will be
notified in advance by mailings, email blasts and through the website. Also, look for
an announcement on this page in an upcoming issue of NJ Cops Magazine. d
18
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ MARCH 2017