March 2003 News
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Hello, I know the status of the 2001-03 contract is on everyone's mind. It is
unfortunate, but we are now caught up in politics and what happens to the
contract will
depend on politics. Now is the time when each and every member needs to take
action - if you haven't called or written your legislative representatives do it
NOW. Let
them know how upset you are with their actions/lack of action and their
priorities
The State Board will be discussing our next steps at our March 1st board meeting
-.
see your section president for information.
We do have some things planned in the near future, which will provide you an
opportunity to be active. Letter writing, Visit the Hill day on Wednesday March
19th and
in late March there will be legislative hearings about the budget around the
State.
We'll need members to participate at all the hearing locations. We'll be
finalizing the
information on March 1 s and getting it out to the section presidents.
As agencies continue to be cut it is becoming more and more difficult to keep
the "E"
in Engineering. The use of consultants, lack of resources (staff and dollars),
accelerated schedules, and push to "get things out the door" means many members
are being asked to take the "E" out of engineering to get the job done. What
happens? We end up with more and more Engineering which management labels as
engineering. The bottom line is "ngineering" is not good for the State and it is
not
good for engineers - we all must guard against the bad habit of "ngineering"
things
and calling it engineering.
The next few years will bring budget challenges for us all in State service -
remember
to continue to be professionally and technically the best at your jobs - that's
how we
can best serve ourselves and the taxpayers! I ask everyone to eliminate "ngineering"
from their jobs and do things right !!
The Association is YOU!! Continue to support your local leadership and
participate!
Respectfully,
Timothy R. Hanley
SEA President
WI COALITION OF ANNUITANTS (WCOA) MEETING - JANUARY 15, 2003
SWIB was represented by Vicki Hearing, and she provided an update on
performance (same data noted in the ETF Annuitant Round Table article in
this SEA Newsletter).
She did indicate that this past December was the worst market for
December in 70 years. She also noted that bonds and international
investments have done well.
The makeup of the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems was
discussed. The makeup of this committee is as follows:
Senate Co-chair: Republican Schultz
Republican Reynolds
Democrat Wirch
Assembly Co-chair: Republican Vrakas
Republican Jeskewitz
Democrat Hubler
ETF Rep. --- Dave Mills
Attorney General Office --- Jane Hamblin
Insurance Commissioner Office --- Jorge Gomez
Public Representative by Gov. --- Michael Luttig
Bill Ford from the Legislative Council, who is functioning as Director
of Retirement Research, gave us a report on the list of bills he will be
reporting on which will come before the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement
Systems, and will keep us up to date on their status.
He also updated us on the two year study of retirement systems throughout
the country. He is receiving the changes from other plans via the internet and
this
is working well.
The changes to the ETF Board were discussed by Jim Gruentzel, the annuitant
representative on the ETF Board. He indicated that 8 of the 13 Board members
could
change -- 5 by election and 3 by Governor's appointment.
Ed Kehl has set up a WCOA committee to review ETF Board representation to
see if everyone in WRS is fairly represented by the Board members. I have
been appointed along with Art Palleon.
The next WCOA meeting will be held on February 19, 2003.
Melvin B. Sensenbrenner,
SEA Retirement & Health
Insurance Representative
ETF ANNUITANT ROUND TABLE MEETING - FEBRUARY 4, 2003
The guest speaker from SWIB was Pat Lipton who discussed the many changes
coming on the Board of Directors of SWIB. Six of the nine Board members were
appointed by Governor Tommy Thompson & Gov. Doyle has requested all of them
to resign. However, they won't leave until Doyle names the replacements and
they are confirmed by the Legislature. One of the six has been replaced with
the appointment of Marc Marotta as Secretary of DOA, and they are waiting for
the other five appointments.
Pat Lipton gave us the investment performance as of December 31, 2002.
Fixed (Balanced Fund) -8.8% (better than the index of all Balanced
Funds @ -10% average)
Variable Fund -21.9%
CPI was at 2.4%
SWIB has set new targets for 2003.
Fixed income was decreased from 34% to 3l%.
Hong Kong International increased 18% to 19%.
U.S. stocks increased from 39% to 40%.
SWIB has hired a new Portfolio Manager for the alternative investment port-
folio by the name of Pool.
Pam Henning reported on the status of the Variable Fund. 2,676 have opted
out of the variable. There are 63,351 who have entered the New Variable Fund.
There are still 42,032 in the old variable which includes 28,487 annuitants.
Act 11 calculations will be totally completed by the end of February 2003,
and all active employees will receive a corrected variable amount on their
2002 WRS retirement statements, which are due out in April 2003.
Federal retirement laws have changed to permit using 40lK, 403B & 457 funds
to purchase forfeited service credit. However, the Wisconsin Legislature has not
passed those changes so ETF cannot accept the transfer of 40lK, 403B & 457 funds
into your WRS account.
Also, be aware that Milwaukee County Retirement System is looking at a merger
with the WRS. ETF is engaged in discussions with Milwaukee County. It appears
that an intern who worked for ETF has transferred to the Milwaukee County
Retirement System and is working on the merger.
State Capitol buzz has that the Republican Legislature is still looking for
a way to use retirement funds to balance the budget. They are also looking at
extensive layoffs, possibly whole Departments, and the ORP (Optional Retirement
Plan) by TIAA-CREF to contract out part of the Wisconsin Retirement System for
UW professors is being pushed again.
The next Round Table is scheduled for May 13,2003.
Melvin B. Sensenbrenner,
SEA Retirement & Health
Insurance Representative
Announcing John Hancock's New LTC Portfolio
and the first FamilyCare Benefit in History.
John Hancock is proud to introduce our new portfolio of long-term care insurance
products. Backed by innovation and fresh design, our new products address the
full
spectrum of client needs - at some of the most competitive prices on the market
today.
Custom Care, our new flagship product, combines innovation with simplification
and rich
built-in benefits- making it one of the most comprehensive policies available.
New built-in features include Paid-Up Limited Payment Options, Monthly Benefit,
Stay
at Home Benefit, International Coverage, enhanced Preferred and Partner
Discounts as
well as group discounts for SEA members.
Exciting new optional benefits include FamilyCare Benefit, additional Cash
Benefit,
Zero-Day Elimination Period for home health care and Partner Home Care Benefit
John Hancock also has developed combo plans for those who were previously not
able to
qualify for LTC coverage due to health. These plans are the latest in innovation
for
providing basic nursing facility and home care. To get a personalized quote or
additional
information call 866-442-6367, or fill out the reply card enclosed.
February 8,2003 Board Meeting Summary
Meeting held at East Towne Suites, Madison
By John Bolka, Secretary
Attendance:
Executive Board: Tim Hanley - President, Mark Klipstein - 1st Vice President, Larry Legro - 2nd Vice President, Nile Ostenso -Treasurer, John Bolka - Secretary
Board Members:
Michelle Ellias, Madison President, Mohamad Hayek, Eau Claire President,
Ryan Luck, Southeast President, Leroy Stublaski, State Agencies President,
Sharon Bremser, Central Office President, Jeff Olson, Superior President,
Tim Radtke, Wisconsin Rapids Vice President, Tom Mugan, DNR President,
Bob Pavlik, Green Bay President, Reiny Yahnke, La Crosse President,
Jaime Rice, Rhinelander President.
Specialists
Willie Haus, Attorney
Mel Sensenbrenner, Health and Retirement
Michael Schoenfield, Consultant
Sandra Henke, SEA Office Secretary
Committee Leaders: George Mickelson, Compensation Committee
Tom
Miller, DFTF '01-03 Chair
Guests: John Voorhees, Mark Westerveld, Rodney Taylor, Madison Section (DOT)
Legislative Report:
By Larry Legro
Visit the Hill Day (VHD) will be March 19, 2003. We will meet at 9:00A in Room
225 NW of the Capitol. If
you are planning on attending it is a good idea to contact your legislator and
let them know you are coming and
possibly set up a appointment time. We will also try to meet with the Governor's
office at the end of the day.
Write your legislator if you cannot attend! Mike Schoenfield will notify
legislators we are coming.
Mike reported the anticipated budget bill still contains AB3, which puts a cap
on the number of State Employees.
Sen. Allan Lassee recommended state employees take a day off w/o pay in an
effort to balance the budget. Some legislators are giving back raises (although
it still counts toward retirement). Larry will check on the status of last
years' LAB request. Two good websites to keep informed on political issues are:
wipolitics.com and
thewheelerreport.com.
Health and Retirement Report:
By Mel Sensenbrenner
There is a proposal being worked on to merge the City of Milwaukee Pension
system into the WRS. Don't be
surprised if this happens. There is still talk of finding a way to use
retirement system money for state budget
problems. The SWIB could possibly have a change in 6 of 9 of its members. The
ETF Board could see a change in 8 of 13 members. Of the 8, 5 are elected
by various organizations that sit on the board and elected officials appoint the
remaining 3.
Make sure to read Mel's report in this newsletter for more
detailed info on this and other Health and Retirement Issues!
5th Annual Visit the Hill Day
Planned Wed. March 19, 2003
"This government has spent too much, and leads too little.;: .andit. ends right
now! "
---Governor Doyle Budget Address 2/18/03
I hope that many in the audience were listening to these words. We, as an
Association of Professional Engineering, have an opportunity to connect with our
legislative body on Wednesday March 19th, 9 am in room 225NW of the State
Capitol
Building. This will be our 5th Annual Visit the Hill Day (VHD). The local units
of SEA
have treasuries that will help you with expenses to attend this important event.
Please try and attend. Use a day of leave time, bring your families, neighbors
or
friends. You are all taxpayers, employees and voters. The legislators are
starting to
hear some of our message. The most recent events within State of WI government
gives
us a window of opportunity we should not waste. Our annual VHD keeps building
upon the previous one. It is a good way to informally connect at the Capitol.
Speak to
your local President or Treasurer for more information. Everyone will also be
notified
by US mail about this important event too. Stay tuned. Plan on taking the day
off and
coming to this event. March Madness,. Visit the Hill Day, and springtime in the
Mad
City, what a great country huh? As always I promise to provide you with a nice
sunny
day as an extra incentive to attend.
Keep in mind that we will provide you with appropriate issues to speak to your
legislators
about. Reminder: that we need to maintain our professional demeanor when
discussing
issues with the legislators. Be courteous and polite. You might wish to connect
with
them ahead of time to make an appointment to see them, or let them know we are
coming
since they will be in session that week. r will be distributing a generic
announcement
to all of the Senate and Assembly members with Our brochure, ahead of time as a
heads
up alert to them.
We are getting our messages across after a few years of plugging away. We also
have
other unions following our leads, and adding their experiences to similar
actions. Do not
let theses opportunities go by: It is important to have a great showing of
members/people at this event. Each section should be bringing at least 1.0
peoi-1Ie.
Madison area SEA members should have at least 40 or more. Let's get lout t11e
masses,
and Stop Wastelessness in Government! (S.W.I.G.)
Governor Doyle has been inviting, small groups of legislators to the Governor's
residence for dinner. He intends to get all of them in small groups over time.
Purpose is
to get to know them a bit better, and connect, discuss anything and just be
human beings for an evening. I suggest he invites the elected leaders of the
bargaining
units to also be a part of this process. Maybe he would get to know some of our
organizations better. I remember just after Jim Doyle announced his candidacy
for
Governor, that SEA got a letter asking its members for a campaign contribution.
This
was well over a year prior to the Nov; 2002 Election. He and his staff know we
exist. I
propose that he invite our leaders too. I will draft a letter to him asking
about this.
Read the newsletter, get involved, be professional, and join the cause. SEA is
only as strong as its membership. Your dues are still low, and we'd like to keep
them low.
Volunteer some time to your local SEA organization. It'll be time well spent.
Go to www.wissea.org for more info.
Final Note:
All of you were very well represented by SEA at the JCER meeting of 2-12-03,
when the majority party voted NOT to pass any of the 15 negotiated labor
contracts to the full legislature.
Senator Erpenbach tried his best to even delay this vote until after the
Governor's budget message telling all that the funding was there. The
decisions were made long before this "Public Hearing" and the public input
was just considered to be lip service on our part. This meeting lasted over
7 hours on a Wed. afternoon/evening and your SEA representatives stayed the
entire time. The next step(s) will be discussed at the Board Meeting on
Saturday, 3-1-2003. Again, Visit the Hill Day will be an important event for
reaction from SEA members to this committee. Apparently Senator John
"God" Gard thinks differently and is looking ahead to 2006. Someone or
something must be influencing these actions. I welcome any theories any
of you might have on this. The Green Bay District might consider sending
many people to VHD to express their displeasures with him. By the way,
his newly added staff were formerly with ex-Speaker Jensen. This tells
me nothing has changed on this end. They have declared that the Republican
Majority will be leading this state- now, which indicates that they do not
recognize the Governor or his position. John Gard currently lives at 624 Paul
St.,
Sun Prairie 53590. He used to live in Madison.
SWIB MEETING - FEBRUARY 12, 2003
Retirement Data for 2002:
SWIB Performance ETF Effective Rate Estimated Dividends
(Balanced Fund) -8.8% *+5.0% +0.0%'
Variable -21.9% -23.0% ~2.7%
*effect of $1.98 billion TAA transfer Act 11
The above data was updated by ETF staff on February 17, 2003.
The guest speaker was Thomas D. Gallagher, Senior Managing Director of
International Strategy and Investment Group, Inc., Washington, D.C. (ISI).
ISI is a broker-dealer specializing in economic and political research for
institutional investors like SWIB.
Mr. Gallagher has been ranked on the institutional investors all-star team
for Washington research for the last nine years and was rated the #1 Washington
analyst in 2001. He also is a regular panelist on "Louis Rukeyser 1 s Wall
Street".
He provided a copy of his report titled "Politics, Money & Markets" -
February 2003. Content of his report:
Page
I. Overview 1
II. Political Outlook 4
III. Geopolitical Risks 8
IV. Monetary Policy 18
V. Fiscal Policy 23
VI. International Economic Policy 29
VII. Other Policy Issues 34
Sector Policies
. Defense 37
. Financial Services 42
. Health Care 45
. Energy 51
. Technology 52
. Miscellaneous 53
Mr. Gallagher's report was very fast because of his flight time to return to
Washington.
His last comment was that with current Bush policies the worst result is the
economic drain to the u.s. for the building of a new government for Iraq and
the rebuilding of the Iraq infrastructure after the elimination of Saddam
Hussein.
Melvin B. Sensenbrenner,
SEA Retirement & Health
Insurance Representative
During fiscal year (July through June) 2002, the State of Wisconsin budgeted
$23,668,621,600 for all
projected expenditures. Of this amount $3,020,449,500 was to be allocated for
permanent staff salaries, or
almost 13 percent of the fiscal year budget. Other personnel salaries came to an
additional $106,927,900 for
a total for all salaries of $3, 127,377,400 or a little over 13.2 percent of the
budget. In addition, the state
allocated $1,067,516,100 for fringe benefits and an additional $12,400,300 for
program supplements. In
total, fringe and supplements came to $1,079,916,400 or a little over 4.5
percent of the total budget.
Compensation reserves came to $55,233,900 for a grand total of $4,262,527,700
for wages and fringes or a
little over 18 percent of the total budgeted amount for the fiscal year.
As we are still in fiscal year 2003, we can project personnel costs from what
was budgeted for this time
period. For the fiscal year, the State of Wisconsin allocated $23,599,185,000
for the all funds budget or
almost a 0.3 percent decline in the annual budget. Of this total amount, the
State allocated $3,162,010,000
for all budgeted salaries or about 13.4 percent of the total budget. In
addition, the State allocated
$1,089,364,700 or 4.62 percent for fringes and program supplements. The State
also allocated
$173,865,600 for compensation reserves. In total salaries, fringes and reserves
came to $4,425,240,300 or
18.75 percent of the total all funds budget.
From the information collected for this article, it appears that projected
personnel costs have been kept very
low when compared to such items as Shared Revenue and School Aids.
Michael Schoenfield,
Consultant