Minutes of the CORE Meeting Thursday, November 15th, 2007

From Mary Ellen Angeletti, November 16, 2007

CORE met at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 in the cafeteria room behind the Sublett Room at STRS. Officers present were Dave Parshall, president and Mary Ellen Angeletti, vice president. CORE trustees present were Nancy Boomhower, Chuck Chapman, Nancy Hamant, Betty Bell and Chuck Angeletti. We had a good attendance at today’s meeting which was very reassuring as we had put out the word to membership to try to attend and support Dr. Leone’s motion today. Richard Stearns and Lou DiOrio joined us, and it was the first meeting for Allen County RTA president/CORE member George Doyle.

Dave Parshall opened the meeting with a call to approve the minutes of last month’s meeting. Nancy Hamant moved to approve the minutes, and it was seconded; the motion passed unanimously.

CORE treasurer C.J. Myers was unable to attend the meeting, so Dave Parshall reported the current treasury balance and disbursements.

Committee Reports: Website: Dave reported that there have been no updates made to the CORE website since our last meeting.
Contacts & Regional Reps: Molly Janczyk reported no new information.

Old Business: Orders for new CORE T-shirts and sweatshirts were delivered today by Herm Fisher and the Clinton County CORE group. Everyone applauded them for their efforts and thanked them. Dave Parshall also thanked Jill Fetters for her background work on her own in trying to get a good deal for our CORE shirt orders.

Dave and Mary Ellen reported on their many visits to Ohio House representatives to promote passage of House Bill 315 (health care legislation introduced by Rep. Scott Oelslager). During these visits, they reported hearing no criticisms of STRS from the legislators. The legislators have received a lot of information from the Ohio School Board group (OSBA) which opposes this health care legislation.

Dave and Mary Ellen have presented rebuttals to the negative school board arguments; namely, that the school boards are looking at additional health care funding from the short term perspective of “NO MONEY, NO TAXES.” We need to view the health care funding problem with a long term perspective. If we delay acting now, the funding problem will only become more acute on down the road with an older teaching force who will be earning salaries at the top of the salary scale using lots of accumulated sick leave as they age, which in turn will require the hiring of an extensive substitute teacher force. All of these factors will be more costly to school boards in the future.

If we act now and pass HB 315, that money can be invested and begin to grow for health care for active teachers in the future and for our grandchildren. At this point in the meeting, postcards were passed out for members to send to Speaker of the House Jon Husted and Representative Chris Widener, Chair of the FIRES Committee (the House Committee on Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities), where HB 315 now rests. The address is the same for both: The Riffe Center, 77 South High Street, Columbus, OH 43215-6111. These two legislators decide whether HB 315 moves or not. CORE members who could not attend today are STRONGLY urged to send their own postcards to Husted and Widener. We need an avalanche of cards to even get their attention. PLEASE ACT NOW!!!!!!!!

Nancy Hamant reported on the Warren County Retired Teachers Asso. meeting which occurred Nov. 5th. Representative Shannon Jones, co-sponsor of HB 151 (divestiture), was the invited guest speaker. She was a NO SHOW. Representative Michelle Schneider, the newly appointed Majority Whip of the House, came instead. She shocked the RTA meeting by stating that HB 315 was dead in the water and would not get out of committee. For this reason, she advised the audience to just give up on efforts to support HB 315. The reason given for this was that the school boards were against it as well as the negative findings included in the Fordham Foundation study of STRS.

Rep. Schneider said she had read this Fordham study and believed that it was correct, and she as a member of the Ohio Retirement Study Council would be calling STRS to task to answer additional issues which had been mentioned in this study. She said she was pleased that four of the five pension systems had passed the divestiture policy of HB 151. When someone in the audience questioned the fact that this policy abolished the pension systems’ fiduciary responsibility for any losses incurred, she said that was not true. Members of the Warren County Retired Teachers Association were shocked and appalled, and several members informed Rep. Schneider that they read the Fordham Foundation study of STRS, and they pointed out several areas in which Rep. Schneider was incorrect in her analysis. As a result, the membership of the WCRTA intends to work even harder to support HB 315. KUDOS TO THE WARREN COUNTY RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION!!!

New Business: Dave and Mary Ellen reported on CORE's efforts to support Dennis Leone’s five point motion, which had been tabled at the October STRS meeting and was supposed to be voted on in today's afternoon session. The official CORE Resolution, approved by the CORE officers and trustees, was sent by email to all of the STRS Board members in early November. The CORE Resolution Supporting Dr. Leone’s Motion was also sent via U.S. mail to each STRS Board member and also to John Patterson, attorney representing the Attorney General of Ohio, and to Bill Neville, the STRS internal auditor & attorney. The CORE Resolution was also sent out to all of the CORE membership as a CORE Email Alert on Tuesday, Nov. 13th.

Dave reported on inquiries to STRS for clarification on Medicare coverage, especially as it applies to a surviving spouse. STRS says that surviving spouses DO continue to be eligible for Medicare but they get a new Medicare number and a new Medicare card for claims. They must contact Medicare on the death of their spouse. STRS is checking this information with Medicare to be sure it is correct and will confirm the information with Dave when they make contact with Medicare. If there is a change, CORE will send out this info.

Nancy Hamant addressed important points for us to know in regard to our new STRS prescription drug company in 2008, Express Scripts. We can pay by credit card or check. All prescriptions from 2007 which are still valid will roll over to the new company. Most brand name drugs now have generics, and some will be in a different tier and will cost more so we must check this carefully. If your doctor wants you to have a brand name drug (due to the fact that a member cannot take a generic), he must write DAW (Dispense As Written) as well as DO NOT SUBSTITUTE on your prescription and even then the STRS member will pay the Tier III price of $125. for a 90 day supply. If your doctor writes you a prescription for a brand name drug and a generic exists for the drug, the member will receive the generic. At the present time, Fosamax has no generic but in February of 2008, a generic will be available. Members need to know that STRS is holding Health Care meetings around the state and members are encouraged to attend in order to have questions answered. Phone STRS to obtain information about the location and dates of these meetings.

The death of Jerry Myers, a retired educator and CORE member, and whose wife, Susan, was CORE’s first treasurer was regretfully announced. CORE members who attended the memorial service for Jerry last week shared that donations could be sent to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, Virginia 22312 in Jerry’s name.

Jim N. Reed made a few remarks, encouraging us to be proactive, forceful and strong in our efforts to support HB 315.

Lou DiOrio reminded us that if successful, HB 315 will be our legacy to future educators.

The meeting adjourned with an announcement from Dave that CORE contact with other organizations concerning possible STRS candidates for the STRS Board seat of active educator (John Lazares' seat on the Bd.) would be occurring soon and would be reported at the next CORE meeting on Thursday, December 13th, 2007.

Respectfully submitted by substitute secretary, Mary E. Angeletti