This is a link to a letter sent to our Massachusetts members about the formulation of a new law affecting drivers 75 and older.

This is a view of the Report of the Pension Commission submitted September 1, 2009.

Massachusetts Retirees United had a banner session this year with legislation that was passed!

We alone asked to have filed and our membership worked to get the following benefits for retirees.

First, beginning in April of 2012 the amount a retired person collecting a MA pension and returning to work in the public sector in the Massachusetts can make is an additional $15,0000. Presently you can work up to 960 or make the difference between what your pension is and your salary would have been had you remained.
The increase of $15,000 as to the amount you can make if you return to a public sector job in Massachusetts once retired, applies to those who are retired at least one year.  Remember that the calculation of what you earn and the hours you work are done on a calendar year not a contract year!  So if I retired in June 2011 the $15,000 increase will be effective for calendar year 2012 but the additional $15,000 should not take place until after June of 2012.

Second, the Maternity Bill is now official. Letters will be sent out sometime next month by the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System to those who retired prior to September 2000. They will ask a number of questions similar to these:

Were you teaching in a public school in Massachusetts prior to January 1975 and did you go out on an unpaid leave for maternity reasons prior to that date?

Did you have a child within 9 months of leaving teaching?

Did you return at some future date to teaching in a public school in Massachusetts?

Did you retire with less than 80%?

Did you retire prior to September 2000?

A yes to the questions will mean possible eligibility. You will be asked to provide a birth certificate of child born within 9 months of the date you left.

They will pull the file of those who answer yes and if you qualify they will add up to 4 years to your creditable service that you had when you retired and recalculate your pension. The new amount will be reflected in your pension. 

Please notify friends and former colleagues of this and give them my email  mardito@retireesunited.org to contact with questions. They may also call 1-617-482-1568 and leave a message with their phone number and I will return the call. You will be kept updated as I get more information from the MTRS.

The disappointing part of our efforts this year is that we were only able to get an increase in the COLA base to $13,000 but at least it is an increase.  This will be something we will work more on in the future.