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HomeNewsArchivesPANEL OKS GERS FLEXIBILITY, UPS SENATE BENEFITS

PANEL OKS GERS FLEXIBILITY, UPS SENATE BENEFITS

July 13, 2001 – A bill giving the Government Employees Retirement System board more power in handling its investments and giving senators more cash on the receiving end of those investments was passed Thursday by the Senate Government Operations, Planning and Environmental Protection Committee.
Approval was unanimous for the measure, which would allow GERS to sell, mortgage, lease or exchange its property, as well as borrow money and issue bonds.
Laurence Bryan, GERS administrator, said the bill would give the board "immediate benefits" in establishing a line of credit with a bank to meet current cash flow problems. He said later that the retirement system had an unfunded liability of $516 million as of September 1999. Another audit will be done in September this year.
The committee chair, Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole, who sponsored the bill, said GERS needs to diversify its investments, a viewpoint he has voiced for some time. The bill will help meet the needs of new early retirement programs which he aided in legislating earlier this year, he said.
Cole and Sen. Carlton Dowe amended the bill to increase senators' maximum retirement benefits from 65 percent to 75 percent compensation, bringing them up to the same level of as the general GERS membership.
Bryan said the amendment "corrects a major wrong, or oversight, in the existing law which reduces benefits to some, but not to all." As the law now stands, retirement for senators is capped at 65 percent of final salary, regardless of years of service. For instance, members of the Legislature who held office for 45 years, the amendment states, would receive the maximum retirement annuity of 65 percent of salary at retirement. Others covered by the retirement system who retire after 40 years of service receive 100 percent compensation.
The committee also approved three leases for:
– Cifre Auto Parts, for its Crown Bay location.
– George Dennis, for a Crown Bay property.
– Justino Colon, doing business as Colon's Barber and Beauty Salon, to build a minimart on property on Kronprindsens Gade near Percy's Bus Stop.
Attending the meeting were committee members Cole, Dowe, Adelbert M. Bryan, Celestino A. White Sr., David Jones and Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg. Sen. Roosevelt David was excused.

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