Save PERA COLA

Here is an update from the Attorney Stephen Pincus, who is handling the lawsuit against PERA and the State of Colorado:
“Richard Rosenblatt has met with the lawyers for the state and PERA to discuss some logistical issues.   The defendants are scheduled to file a response to the lawsuit by May 8.   We’ll have a better idea of the defendants’ position when we receive their response.”
We have been informed that the case has been assigned to Chief Judge Robert S. Hyatt of the 2nd Judicial Division of the state district court. His biography may be found here: http://www.courts.state.co.us/Bio.cfm/Employee_ID/551  Originally it was assigned to Chief Judge Larry Naves, but he retires this month.  The Case #  is 2010-CV-1589 in Denver District Court.  We’ll notify the email list when we know more!

Gary Justus et al v. State of Colorado and PERA et al

An amended complaint was filed today in Denver District Court. It adds two plaintiffs for a total of four to properly represent the various subclasses. The definition of the class has been rewritten in order to a) more clearly define who is covered by it, and b) expand the class of Denver Public School employees and retirees based on recent research on when automatic COLAs were implemented in DPS. Several counts were added based on additional articles of both the U.S. and Colorado Constitutions. Other minor editing problems were corrected. To read the amended complaint, visit http://stemberfeinstein.com/caseupdate.asp . If you have any questions about the new filing, please submit them to Rich Allen at SavePERACOLA@gmail.com .

Save PERA COLA is now actively seeking your contributions to fund the class action lawsuit Gary Justus and Kathleen Hopkins v. the State of Colorado and Colorado PERA et al. filed February 26 in state District Court in Denver. It will require the significant support of retirees, those eligible to retire, and other interested parties to overturn the parts of Senate Bill 1 that violate our contract with PERA by reducing the guaranteed annual benefit increases from 3.5% (3.25% Denver schools division) to zero in 2010, and 2% or less thereafter. The suit also seeks to overturn the portion of the law that sets back any future increases four months from March to July. The suit asks the court to certify a class of PERA members “who became eligible to retire or who retired between March 1, 1994 and February 28, 2010, or who are ‘survivors’ of such retirees.”

The plaintiffs have retained a Pennsylvania law firm experienced in public pension litigation, Stember, Feinstein, Doyle & Payne, LLC, as well as the Colorado-based Richard Rosenblatt and Associates. Stephen Pincus, Esq., William T. Payne, Esq., and John Stember, Esq. will be the lead attorneys.

While the State of Colorado has public tax dollars to defend itself through the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, we must rely on cash donations primarily from PERA members who will already be feeling the inflationary effects on their benefits. Ironically, PERA will also be using its members’ assets to oppose its members’ interests.  It will perhaps take several years for a final answer from the only branch of government left that can afford us a level playing field to decide this issue.

This will likely be our only opportunity to challenge Senate Bill 1. If it is allowed to stand as written, it sets an incredibly powerful precedent for future reductions in PERA retirees’ fully vested benefits when the state again feels the need to find more money. Other public pensions in Colorado will not be immune, and the precedent for attacking public retirees’ pensions here will embolden other states to try the same.

Over the course of the next 30 years, the purchasing power of PERA retirees’ benefits will be cut progressively downward 38% (Denver 33%) compared to pre-SB1 guarantees. For every $1000 of monthly benefit a retiree receives today, he or she will not receive $154,336 (DPS $127,105) in contractually guaranteed cumulative benefits due to SB1. This is why Senator Josh Penry (R-Grand Junction) stated “Fully 90 percent of the PERA fix comes from benefit cuts to current and future retirees…”

Save PERA COLA is a Colorado corporation registered with the Colorado Secretary of State. SPC has applied for designation with the IRS as a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation that is eligible to receive donations that are not tax-deductible.  All funds will be deposited into SPC’s Westerra Credit Union checking account by Treasurer Judy Ganschaw. Donations will be used exclusively for funding the lawsuit. Upon final adjudication by the courts, any excess funds collected will be returned to donors on a pro rata basis upon request.

Your participation in this effort is crucial to its success. Some retirees receive much less in pension benefits than you and I, and can give little or none. Food and medicine are their first priorities. They rely on the 3.5% to just survive. Others of us can do more and we will. Please search within and find what your part will be in solving this problem that has been thrust upon us by PERA, the General Assembly and Governor Ritter.

You may donate at our website using PayPal, a secure online payment service, or by mailing a check to:

Or make a donation using Paypal:
 Note that if you use Paypal, we will be charged a 2.9% fee, plus $.30 per transaction. For larger donations, sending us a check will avoid this fee.

Donations will be acknowledged if contact information is provided. Please include address, phone number, email and PERA division (school, DPS, state, judicial, or local government). Please indicate whether or not we can publish your name and division as a supporter of the lawsuit on our website.

Thank you for your support of all kinds in this effort. It is greatly appreciated and highly necessary.

Gary Justus and Rich Allen

Denver, CO-February 26, 2010

The law firms of Stember Feinstein Doyle & Payne, LLC and Richard Rosenblatt and Associates, LLC filed a class action lawsuit today on behalf of Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) retirees challenging the newly-passed amendments to PERA which reduce the annual increase to the retirees’ pension benefits.The suit charges that the new law, which was signed by the governor this past Tuesday, is unconstitutional because it impairs the retirees’ contractual rights to receive pension benefits at the levels promised them when they became eligible to retire or when they actually retired.

“Both the United States and Colorado Constitutions bar reductions in pension benefits once the right to those pension vests. And that is exactly what the legislature did here,” said Stephen M. Pincus, one of the attorneys for the retirees.

For the full press release, click here.

For a copy of the complaint, click here.

The proposed Public Employees’ Retirement Association rescue plan passed the Senate Finance Committee 5-2 Tuesday after members approved key changes of interest to school districts, to teachers and classified employees and to retirees.

The committee vote was the first formal test of Senate Bill 10-001, although the bill has gone through plenty of informal tests during intensive negotiations between lawmakers, PERA officials and a coalition of employee and retiree groups.

Read the full article from Indenvertimes.com here.

There was no good news in a 90-minute legislative discussion Thursday afternoon on the financial future of the Public Employees’ Retirement Association.

The PERA board has proposed a sweeping and complex plan designed to bring the recession-battered pension plan to solvency within 30 years. Board members and executives met with members of the Joint Budget Committee to answer questions on the plan.

Summing up the effects of the proposal on civil servants and retirees, PERA Executive Director Meredith Williams said, “So, essentially they’ll work longer, pay more and receive less.”

Read the full article from Education News Colorado here.