Hickory Stick Gazette
Ogle-Lee and IRTA – Your Link To Springfield
April 2016
http://ogleleerta.weebly.com www.irtaonline.org
Our next meeting is set for Tuesday, April 12th at the
LaBranche, 610 S Division ST, Polo, IL. Doors open at
11:00 AM, with the business meeting at NOON,
followed by lunch at 12:30 pm and then the program
will follow after lunch.
RESERVATIONS are required. Your contact person will
call you for your reservation. If you have not received a
call by April 1st, please call Marvel Blomberg at (815)
562-2884.
REMINDER: We must pay for your meal if you made a
reservation, even if you can’t attend. The cost of the
meal is $15. The menu will include herbed chicken
over wild rice, garlic bread, broccoli/cheese salad,
platter of fresh baked cookies and tea, coffee or water.
If you reserve a meal and find that you
will not be able to attend, please call
Marvel Blomberg (815/562-2884) in
order to cancel your earlier reservation.
It will be too late to cancel your
reservation after April 1st. If this
occurs, please send $15 to Ogle-Lee
Treasurer, Linda Kenney, P.O. Box 314,
Rochelle, IL 61068. Please do not call
the restaurant to make or cancel a
reservation. If you are planning to
attend the April 12th meeting, you will
be able to pay for your meal when you
arrive.
APRIL PROGRAM – Hale Guyer, “Online Scams and
Fraud.” Investigator Guyer is a retired Special
Investigator with over 32 years of law enforcement
experience, and 9 years as a licensed Private
Detective specializing in cyber-crimes.
He is recently retired after 14+ years as an Adjunct
Professor at the College of DuPage’s Suburban Law
Enforcement Academy and is currently a consultant
for the Office for Victims of Crimes as a Training
and Technical Assistant.
For over 20 years he has been designing and
instructing courses certified through the IL Law
Enforcement Training & Standards Board on such
topics as: Identity Theft, Cyber Stalking, Computer
Fraud, Cyber Terrorism, Confidence Crimes,
Cyberbullying, Investigating Crimes on Craigslist
and Investigating Crimes Against Seniors.
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Loretta Bell will be memorializing the deceased
members of our organization who passed in 2015.
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March 2016 – Legislative Update – Keith Erhart
Since the last legislative update in October, 2015, not
much has changed in Illinois.  Republican Governor
Rauner and the Democrat-led legislature continue to
wage a war of words with no compromise in sight.  So
far we are the fortunate ones.  We continue to have our
pension checks deposited into our accounts, and TRS is
on track to receive the state’s $3.7B payment.
However, stories are reported daily of unfunded and
under-funded agencies forced to cut important services
or close their doors.  SB 2043 which was to provide
$721.5M in funding for community colleges and MAP
grants failed in the House to override the governor’s
veto by two votes.  The MAP grants were to provide
promised money for tuition for current college
students, the result of which was that some were forced
to drop out of school.  Opponents of SB 2043 said that
the bill’s passage would greatly increase the state’s debt
without providing a way to fund these obligations. The
voting in both the senate and house was along party
lines.
Even though we have been receiving our funding,
possible changes to active and future teachers’
retirement plans could greatly affect us. Initiating a
401(k) retirement plan, known as a defined contribution
plan, will not fix the unfunded liability with TRS.  These
will likely increase the state’s pension debt due to
reduced employee contributions and lower investment
returns due to the change in the make-up of the
participants.  A shift to a 401(k) creates a closed system
with a defined end date for TRS.  The state has to make
larger payments in a shorter time to fulfill the state’s
commitment.  The amount generated by investment
would decrease because of the shorter time frame of a
closed system.  
In the governor’s budget for Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 2017)
which will become effective on July 1, 2016, Gov.
Rauner is proposing a state contribution to TRS of
$3.59B.  In FY2016, the state’s contribution is $3.74B.
Our successful lawsuit, paid through Legal Defense
Funds, proved SB1 (PA98-599) to be unconstitutional
and is the only reason the Illinois politicians are forced
to make these payments.  Unfortunately, Gov. Rauner
has proposed $0 in FY 2017 for our Teachers Retirement
Insurance Program.  Currently, in FY 2016 the state is
contributing $108M which is 24% of the cost of the
program.  The other main participants are retired and
active teachers and school districts.  The state isn’t
constitutionally required to pay, so they won’t.        
HB 4427 and HB 5625 are two bills  neither of which
affect current retirees.  However, those who are in the
pipeline committed to a retirement date and eligible for
current IRTA membership need to be aware of these
bills.  Both bills allow workers at retirement to take
pension benefits as a lump-sum cash payment and
forfeit a guaranteed pension payment for life.  These
two bills have many similarities with some variations.
March 15 is the primary in Illinois.  Of the 59 state
senators, 40 seats are up this year; 20 are for a two-year
term and 20 are for a four-year term.  Of local interest
Sen. Bivins was re-elected in 2014 and is one of the
nineteen senate seats not being decided this election
cycle.  For those IRTA members in southwest Lee
County, 37th District Sen. Darin LaHood replaced U.S.
Representative Aaron Schock who resigned from his
position.  Chuck Weaver was appointed to fill LaHood’s
unexpired vacancy, and he is running unopposed for a
four-year term.  Also in southwest Lee County, 74th
District Representative Don Moffitt who has been a
strong proponent for retired teachers will be retiring
after this term.  There are three republicans and one IRTA and Ogle-Lee your link to Springfield
democrat on this primary ballot competing for his Dick Wood
position.  There are several close primary races around P. O. Box 156
the state that IRTA is closely following and offering Leaf River, IL 61047
financial support.  In the last legislative update, I wrote
about Gov. Rauner’s multi-million dollar PAC funds that
he created and privately funded to oppose any
republican candidates that would not vote in favor of
his agenda.  Republican Sen. Sam McCann out of
Jacksonville, IL is a major target of the governor.  Sen.
McCann has supported Illinois retired teachers, and
IRTA has contributed $12,200 from our Political Action
Committee to his campaign.  Our $110,418 IRTA-PAC
balance is dwarfed by Gov. Rauner’s $29M!  Please
consider joining the IRTA-PAC donation deduct program ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
as you will automatically be enrolled in a one dollar per 2015-2016 Ogle-Lee RTA OFFICERS
month contribution to support those legislators that Co-Presidents Jean Hoff
support us. Jean Whipple
****************************************** Vice-President Open Position
IRTA Area 1 Conference will be held on May 16 Secretary Elke Grennan
at IVCC, Oglesby, and May 17 at Northwest Treasurer Linda Kenney
Territory Historic Center in Dixon. Information
Membership Richard Wood
will be provided on our Litigation and other
Legislative Issues, TRS, TRIP Ins. for both Member Benefits Phillip Bratta
Medicare and non-Medicare members, Legal Legislative Keith Erhart
Defense Fund, Membership Recruitment, IRTA Contact Coordinator Marvel Blomberg
Foundation, IRTAPAC, and Member Benefits Historian Loretta Bell
from AMBA. If you are a member of Ogle-Lee Webmaster Richard Longfellow
RTA, we will cover the cost of $12/person. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Please let Jean Whipple (815.222-2681) know by +FUTURE GENERAL MEETINGS:
April 30th if you are interested in attending. July 12 – Terry Schuster and Pam Steele share
their bike trip in Europe at LaBranche, Polo
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ October 11 – Legislative Forum at LaBranche, Polo
The Ogle-Lee RTA Executive Board is looking for EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETINGS:
new members. We are still in need of a Vice June 14 –Byron Library
President and are also looking for members who September 13 –Byron Library
might be willing to take over an office in the future. November 8 –Byron Library
THERE IS AN IMMEDIATE NEED FOR ASST.
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WEBMASTER AND ASST. MEMBERSHIP
CHAIR. Please contact Jean Hoff (815.732-3818) We are very happy to welcome the following new
or Jean Whipple (815.222-2681) if you are willing to members to the Ogle-Lee RTA:
serve. OGLE-LEE RTA NEEDS YOU TO STEP Michele Glen, Sue Pravidica
UP! ----------------------------------------------------------------
Membership Directory and Newsletters
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
At the November 10, 2015 Executive Board
+LEGAL DEFENSE FUND - There will be a basket at
Meeting, we voted to discontinue publishing the
the April 12th meeting for your contributions to the
Membership Yearbook Directory due to legal
Legal Defense Fund. You may write a check or have
concerns about the privacy of membership data
cash. Please make your check payable to IRTA and
and the cost of the yearbooks.
write “Legal Defense Fund” on the check memo
If you have an email address, we will no longer be
line.
mailing you a hard copy of our Newsletter. If you
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ do NOT have an email address, you will still receive
the newsletter in the mail.