UIC UNITED: A Chapter of SUAA Minutes of the Fall Meeting Thursday, October 25, 2007

President Irving Miller called the meeting to order at 10:36am.

1. Minutes of the Spring 2007 meeting were approved.

2. President's Report (Irving Miller): UIC UNITED Board member Richard Johnson was elected SUAA President Elect at the June SUAA membership meeting in Springfield. He is also a member of the State SUAACTION Board.

President Miller reported on several developments at the October 10th Board of Directors Meeting in Champaign. Linda Brookhart, Executive Director of SUAA, announced that SUAA has hired a new lobbyist, Richard Lockhart, for fiscal year 2007-2008. Mr. Lockhart comes to SUAA with 35 years of experience as a professional lobbyist. He is very well-known and respected by legislators in Springfield as well as among his peers. Lockhart served as a special consultant to the President of the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention and has received numerous awards and recognition for his involvement in political issues and events. SUAA will utilize Lockhart's expertise to mobilize the membership much in the same manner as AARP.

Dan Slack, Executive Director of SURS, reported that the legislature appropriated the correct amount to the pension fund for this year; however, he urged members of SUAA to pay attention to funding appropriation levels going forward.

Jeffrey Brown, Professor of Finance at UIUC, gave a presentation on the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). Brown's message was that any efforts to repeal the WEP and the GPO are pretty much destined to fail because of the associated cost and other unintended consequences. He felt that changing the way benefits are calculated so that they are more fairly applied across groups is a more palatable option for congressional consideration.

3. SUAACTION Report (Richard Johnson): Dick reported the following:

The forum "Your Pension and You", held on September 20th at UIC Student Center West, was a tremendous success; over 200 people attended. Ralph Martire, Executive Director for the Center on Tax and Budget Accountability, and John McCrosky, Second Vice President UIC UNITED, gave insightful presentation that were well received. UIC UNITED obtained several new memberships as well. The Chapter will follow up with two Brown Bag discussions on related issues.

Members were reminded that SUAACTION champions the interest of all members of SURS, and support for the organization is entirely funded by voluntary contributions. In the past year, the UIC Chapter raised $12,500, exceeding our goal by $500. Only 1 in 10 chapters in the state actually met or exceeded their goal. Dick reiterated that SUAACTION is necessary because Illinois has the worst funded state pension in the nation; has a dysfunctional, chaotic state government; no budget to date; and our healthcare benefits must be protected.

SUAACTION also allows key legislative work to be conducted without threatening the non-for-profit status of SUAA. Those currently serving on the UIC SUAACTION Committee are Kathleen Crittenden, Judy Curry, William Jones, Irving Miller, Kevin Rudolfo, Susan Sindelar, Jake Starks, and Frank Tachau.

A meeting of the Committee is planned for mid-November; anyone is invited to join as an active member or to contribute money.

4. Treasurer's Report (Charles Stanislao): Chuck gave the following financial report as of October 24, 2007:

Savings Account	$20,500
Checking Account	3,300
Certificate of Deposit	29,000
UIC Account	800

Members may call Chuck at 996-8626 or email him with any questions concerning the Treasurer's report.

5. Membership Report (Sue Sindelar): reported the following:

The good news is that new memberships are up; however, chapter renewal rates have declined by 170. Overall, the numbers are down. Linda Brookhart informed the membership that two reminder notices are sent to those who do not renew. It may be that some people have moved without informing the Office, and others may have passed away. Tracking is becoming easier now that mail is sent first class. She commented that the Central Office will follow up on the matter.

Recruitment of active employees has become a major focus of the Chapter. President Miller and Dick Johnson will meet with the UIC Senate in an effort to reach more faculty. Sue is working with APAC, the UIC academic professional advisory committee, as well as with civil service groups to make them aware of UIC UNITED and its role.

6. Program and Social Report: Carol Humble and Rose Kirk reported the following upcoming events:

7. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:30am.

Respectfully submitted,

Marsha Borders, Chapter Secretary

The keynote address "Finding Balance in SUAA" was given by Linda Brookhart, Executive Director of SUAA.

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