In a report to state legislators, a task force created by legislative resolve last year to consider the creation of a "Maine State Employee and Teacher Unified Retirement Plan" has concluded that the current pension system for public employees in Maine is the most affordable option available for the State of Maine.

The task force's report presented seven possible pension plan options, including: the current state/teacher defined benefit plan; Social Security; a defined benefit plan with Social Security; a variable defined benefit plan; a defined contribution plan; a defined contribution plan with Social Security; and an alternative plan as described in the legislation creating the task force.

"Retaining the current State Employee and Teacher Retirement Program provides the lowest cost of the seven options studied by the task force," the report states.

Yet the report also noted that the current pension system is not without its drawbacks, since the vesting requirement of five creditable years of service prevents short-term public workers from drawing a benefit. In addition, since many public workers change jobs in and out of public service, only one in five public workers, on average, reaches 25 years of creditable service in Maine. While both of these circumstances contribute to the overall affordability of the current pension system compared to the more expensive Social Security, these circumstances also mean that a substantial majority of the public workforce in Maine isn't achieving the level of retirement security that one would expect from defined benefit pension plans such as those provided by the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, the report shows.

Members of the task force that prepared the report presented it to the Legislature's Appropriations and Labor committees on Tuesday, March 9. Task force members included MSEA-SEIU Director and Retirement System Trustee Ben Viola and MSEA-SEIU Member Brett Hoskins, who is labor chair of the State Employee Health Commission.

Click here for the entire 82-page report. It may take some time to download depending on your connection speed.

In addition to presenting possible options for future pension benefits, the report also examined the possibility of merging the health plans covering retired state workers and retired teachers, but made no recommendations other than that further study would be necessary. "Several of the more technical issues related to a merged plan were identified by the Task Force," the report states. "It is the consensus that these issues require further research and greater analysis….If any consensus emerged from the Task Force's deliberations, it would be that the issue of retiree health benefits may be worthy of further study. Task force members recommend continuing the health benefit portion of the study with a newly configured group of healthcare experts."

Our union is examining the report and the task force's identified options for ensuring the health and retirement security for our members, while also providing some options for portability of benefits. There are many challenges ahead, particularly considering the state's unfunded liability to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, and the financial penalties that many of our members are experiencing as a result of the federal Windfall Elimination Provision and the federal Government Pension Offset - two federal laws that our union is working to repeal. The task force's report provides some important context for future decision making.

Please read the report, think about it, and share your comments and suggestions with us. Send your comments and suggestions to MSEA-SEIU President Bruce Hodsdon or mail them to President Hodsdon at MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, 65 State St., PO Box 1072, Augusta, ME 04332-1072.