04/23/2009 - 1:45pm
03/19/2009 - 12:20pm
The following is a list and status of current New Hampshire retirement legislation.
03/19/2009 - 9:26am
HB532, which was introduced once again by our good buddy Rep. Hawkins, which would limit your retirement calculations to only your base pay was heard before the Executive Departments and Administration Committee today. The bill was voted down by the Comm. By a vote of 12-6.
03/11/2009 - 12:49pm
03/06/2009 - 3:56pm
On March 5, 2009 the NH House of Representatives voted to modify retirement benefits by extending the retirement age and years of service of Group II Police Officers and Firefighters. The current law requires NH Retirement System members of Group II consisting of police officers and firefighters work 20 years and attain the age of 45 in order to be eligible for a full service retirement. The House has voted to extend the time-in-service to 25 years and age of retirement to 50. This measure will only affect new employees. This does not, as written, affect any member of the NH Retirement System.
The NH Retirement Security Coalition comprised of representative groups of beneficiaries in both Groups I and II, are actively monitoring this vote and are speaking with House and Senate leadership as the Bill moves forward. A coalition meeting was held in Concord today where the coalition leadership met and discussed the vote, strategies and direction. The NEPBA was represented at this meeting and is also closely monitoring the House action.
It is anticipated that this Bill will be forwarded to the Senate where additional hearings will be scheduled and testimony will be heard. Please continue to look for additional information as it comes available.
06/06/2008 - 10:09am
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
The
Committee of Conference has released a compromise report on HB1645. The
compromise bill is in line with the Senate’s version of HB1645 with a
compromise reached on the maximum benefit for members hired after July
1, 2009.
06/06/2008 - 10:06am
This is a breakdown of what transpired at the State House on Wednesday, May 21, 2008.
The Senate voted to NOT Concur with
House version of SB463 and voted NOT to go to Committee of Conference
with the House. That means this bill is DEAD!The House voted to NOT Concur with Senate’s version of HB1645 and voted to go to Committee of Conference with the Senate.Here is what happens next:If the House and Senate cannot agree on a compromise, then the Bill is Dead.If the Senate wins debate, the Senate version of HB1645 passes, (which is the version we want)If the House wins debate, The House version of HB1645 passes. OR: They come to a Compromise on a combination of the two.Steve Arnold advises that we still have a commitment from the Senate to the membership and beneficiaries to hold fast.There is no schedule for the Committee Hearing as of yet. As
far as we understand at this point, the House members of this Committee
are Ken Hawkins, Patricia McMahon, Ann Marie Irwin, Neil Kurk, and
Marjorie Smith all of whom have voted against labor in this retirement
fight.It is believed that the
Senate side will include Lou D’Allesandro, Peter Burling, and Michael
Downing. Alternates could be Martha Fuller Clark and Harold Janeway.We will continue to update our members on this important issue through this site and via email to all NH Local Presidents.
06/06/2008 - 9:49am
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
NEPBA’s
representative, Steve Arnold, working with the NH Retirement Security
Coalition has advised that the NH Retirement bill, HB 1645, is going to
Committee on Conference. The Coalition has been reaching out to all
public employees and retirees to get them to contact their State
Representative and urge them to vote for HB1645 as Unanimously Passed
by the Senate. As part of this effort, the NEPBA encourages its NH
members to continue this campaign by contacting their representatives.
Members can use the following link, http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/housemembers.html, to obtain contact information for your Representative.
06/06/2008 - 9:40am
Friday, May 9th, 2008
This
morning the Senate voted on their amended version of HB 1645. The
Major changes are the elimination of the extended work years for group
II and the elimination of the provision to change the Board of
Trustees. The amendment was further amended to call for a 2.5% COLA on
the first $40,000.00 of pension annuity.