Important hearing concerning PEBP benefits, Wed Feb 18th, 8am

To all UNLV-NFA members and all faculty and professional staff concerned with the Public Employees Benefit Program health insurance:

Dear Colleagues,

Wednesday February 18th at 8 a.m. the Legislature's joint subcommittee on General Government and Accountability will hear a presentation by the Public Employees' Benefits Program (PEBP) staff. The PEBP budget is not the first item on the agenda, but it will come up for review around 9:30 am.

The Governor's PEBP budget proposal would cut benefits and raise out of pocket costs for all employees. These increases would amount to over $2000 for an individual and over $3000 for a family.

Moreover, the Governor has proposed to eliminate the subsidy for most retirees, so that we would have no health benefits in retirement. This would effect those who have already, through their years of service, earned those benefits. Specifically, the Governor has proposed:

1. To eliminate the state subsidy for all Medicare retirees effective July 1, 2009

2. To reduce the state subsidy for all current non-Medicare retirees by 50% over the next two years

3. To eliminate the state subsidy for any employee retiring after July 1, 2009 or later

You can read more about the Governor's proposals at here.

The hearing is scheduled for Room 2134 of the Legislature in Carson City on the 18th. It will be teleconferenced to room 4412 of the Grant Sawyer state office building at 555 E. Washington Avenue in Las Vegas.

UNLV-NFA members, and all faculty and pro-staff who are concerned about their health insurance coverage, are encouraged to attend this meeting and advised to be there early because seating is limited. Please contact fellow faculty members and encourage them to attend this meeting, and if you would like to testify before the subcommittee, please let me know .

If you cannot attend, please check to see if your state Assembly representative or Senator is on this subcommittee (listed below) and if so, please contact their office via phone or email before next Wednesday.

Senate

* Stephen Horsford (chair)
* Dean Rhoads
* Warren Hardy
* Joyce Woodhouse


Assembly

* Mo Denis (chair)
* Kathy McClain
* Marcus Conklin
* Pete Goicoechea
* Joe Hogan
* Ellen Koivisto

I'm pleased to report we will have a strong letter of support from President Ashley to present, so it will be highly effective to have a strong contingent of faculty and professional staff to show our concern over this issue.

Finally, the meeting can be viewed via the Internet here, selecting the meeting and choosing "View".



In solidarity,
Greg Brown
Interim President, UNLV Faculty Alliance
State secretary, Nevada Faculty Alliance
http://unlvfaculty.blogspot.com