UIC UNITED: A Chapter of SUAA Outgoing President's Report - July 2009

Fellow Members of SURS:

This is my first letter to you as Past President of UIC UNITED (or last letter as President, depending on your perspective). At the 2009 Spring membership meeting, Merrill Gassman was elected President, and I am delighted to tell you that UIC UNITED is in very good hands. Merrill, and the UIC UNITED Board, have the wisdom and energy to amply fulfill the SUAA mission of protecting the pensions and benefits of all SURS members, both current employees and retirees. You will be kept informed as we do our work, and I hope you will provide us with your insights, questions, and any other forms of aid that are needed.

It is tempting, as I complete my term as President, to look back over the past four years and summarize what I and the UIC UNITED Board have accomplished. However, the state of our State, and of the SURS system, is such that a retrospective is a luxury we cannot afford. So, let us look at where we are now. The legislature adjourned at midnight on May 31, which is something of an accomplishment. However, they did not pass a budget. Although the State senate and the governor supported an income tax increase to help balance the budget, the assembly could not muster the votes in support. Thus, the legislature passed stop-gap spending plans that will carry the State through the rest of 2009, and then they will have to return to Springfield to deal with the huge budget deficit that they helped create by failing to do their duty.

What impact these shenanigans will have on SURS and the other pension systems remains to be seen. A "pension holiday" is possible and perhaps likely. Our health care benefits have not been severely impacted so far, but who knows what lies ahead? New university employees will not have access to the same pension and benefits that current members of SURS enjoy. Other impacts are also likely as we move forward.

It is, therefore, essential that we all maintain contact with our representatives in Springfield, so they know we are watching, that we are many, and that we are vocal and vote.

We will, of course, keep you fully informed of the activities of UIC UNITED and the news that impacts all of us. Just as I have over the past four years, Merrill Gassman will write you regularly on such topics.

It has been a great pleasure to serve you as President of UIC UNITED over the past four years, and it pleases me that I will continue to serve the Chapter as Past President.

Sincerely yours,

Irv Miller
Past President, UIC UNITED, The UIC Chapter of the State Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA)
E-mail: ifmiller@sbcglobal.net

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