« March 2022

NEXT MEETING! -

April 13, 2022

10:30 AM

Highland Grill, Turner, ME

The Highland Grill

When the details are available, we will send out a "Flash News" to include host, price, and directions.  Stay tuned!

Minutes from the last meeting.

From Linda DeSantis- Minutes from March 2022 -Click the link

Mintues - March 2022

Newsletter Notes!

Please feel free to contribute to your newsletter.  You can send contributions to me by emailing them to - rfuller@mainenet.org

Please note - MEA Retired now has a Facebook page - You can follow us there. 

MEA Retired - Facebook

by

Mona Ervin

Scam alert from AARP

This is income tax return season and the scammers are out there waiting to help you spend you refund. Be on the alert for the following scam.  This one relates to a police scam but scams involving firefighters are out there as well.   Usually the call begins with something like, “Thank you for your support in the past, can we  count on you again?”  The scammers are expecting that you will respond in the affirmative. Most people have not donated but cannot remember and assume that the organization keeps records and that indeed a donation was made.  This is especially aimed at seniors who may not have accurate memories of donations.

“I’m calling on behalf of the National Save the Police Fund,”* says the voice on the phone. “We support police officers who risk their lives daily protecting our communities.  Can the police officers count on you?”

Gotten calls like this? So have we all. At the end of 2021, robocalls raising money for police groups were the highest-volume phone messages in most major U.S. markets, according to Nomorobo, a robocall-blocking company that works with AARP on fraud prevention.

These callers typically use language that suggests they are charities raising money directly for local police. But what’s the truth? The answer is that, in many cases, these aren’t charities at all. Instead, they’re “independent, expenditure-​only” political action committees, or super PACs. Why does this matter? Simple: less scrutiny. Charities face relatively rigorous review from the Internal Revenue Service, and most states require them to register before they can operate there.

Super PACs generally have far fewer state-level reporting requirements and are regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which has fewer enforcement options than the IRS. The result: a rise in super PACs that use sympathetic-sounding causes primarily to line their own pockets (the FEC has called this subset “scam PACs”). 

These calls are not from live people; answers to questions are scripted and recorded. In fact, former employees of these types of fundraisers have testified about how they used soundboard technology to play prerecorded messages as responses, in part so they could talk to several donors at once.

Questions about how donations are spent are mostly unanswered. One responder replied directly: 90 percent went to fundraising, and 10 percent went to police support. Wow! That means of a $35 donation, no more than $3.50 goes to their stated cause.

Below are a few tips for screening for legitimate charities. But these telemarketers bombarding our phone lines? Just hang up. Law enforcement has a tough enough job without having to put up with charlatans masquerading as heroes.

Safe Charitable Giving

• Research and choose charities to support. Never give based solely on a phone, mail, email or social media pitch.
• Read their tax filings. Just search the charity’s name along with the number “990” (the IRS form for charities).  
• Verify charities via your state’s secretary of state office, Charity Navigator or other independent screeners.

Trivia Quiz

Famous Cities Quiz

Here are the city names used in this quiz

1. This city is known as the City if Lights.
   
2. This city is the City of a Hundred Spires.
   
3. Known as The Big Apple.   
   
4. Known as The Bride of the Sea.  
   
5. The Eternal City. 
   
6. Known as The Holy City. 
   
7. Known as The City of Angles. 
   
8. Known as The Windy City. 
   
9. Famous as the Venice of the North.
   
10. Known as The Harbor City. 
    
11. Known as The Motor City. 
    
12. Known as The Pearl of the Orient. 
    
13. Known as Beantown. 
    
14. Known as the City of Music.
    
15. Known as La Belle Ville 
    
16. Known as Sin City.  
    
17. Known as The Big D.
    
18. Known as The Fashion Capital of the World.
    
19. Known as The City of Brotherly Love. 
    
20. Known as The Golden Triangle City.
    

Bonus

1. Name the three cities known as The City By The Bay.
1. Dublin   B. San Francisco   C. Cape Town   D. Melbourne   E. Quebec   F. Manila

Answers

1. Paris
2. Prague
3. New York
4. Venice
5. Rome
6. Jerusalem
7. Los Angeles
8. Chicago
9. Amsterdam
10. Sydney
11. Detroit
12. Hong Kong
13. Boston
14. Vienna
15. Montreal
16. Las Vegas
17. Dallas
18. Milan
19. Philadelphia
20. Kuala Lumpur

Bonus

San Francisco – Melbourne - Manila

Legislative Update

by

Crystal Ward

Legislative News for March 2022

The Public Hearing on the governors proposed budget section nn on the our COLA concerns was held Mar. 3, about 12 people gave testimony and 40 sent in written testimony, while this is good, statewide we have over 5500 members and AREA has about 100, so, these numbers could be better.

The Legislature pays attention to how much something is really wanted and they know how many are in our Statewide group. You can see the picture and level of concern and need they are seeing. I have been asked to explain the issue so here goes :

Just what is a COLA , Cost Of living Adjustment and what is its historical intent? 

A cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is an increase made  to counteract the effects of rising prices in the economy—called inflation and maintainence buying power

COLAs are typically equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners for a specific period. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) represents the average prices of a basket of goods and is used to measure inflation. So all a COLA does is try to make a person’s pension “breakeven” so a person can maintain buying power and deal with inflation. No one is trying to get rich.

Ever since 2011, retirees in MainePers have NOT been keeping up with inflation and have been losing buying power and its impact is compounding itself every year. Every year a person does not receive a COLA on their whole salary they lose 100s of dollars in buying power and the ability to just pay their bills.

Today inflation is at historical high levels.

When these 2011 changes were made then Governor La Page said to the Appropriation. Committee that the retired had to have some skin in the game for helping the state out of a financial mess. They took $300 million from us in the first year of the changes! We are still being “skinned”.

Governor Mills proposed a one time 2.4% check it will help. Funding the whole 5.4% and adding it to the base used to computer future COLA raises will help MUCH more. BUT what needs to be done is to develop and implement a plan to restore MainePers pensions to their pre 2011 condition to stop the continual erosion of benefits. This means you would get the COLA figures on your WHOLE MainePERS check!!

Think About it ----------------What’s going to happen in 2022 when the COLA could be 5.9- 7% and we are capped at 3% ?

Rep. Jan Dodge, has a bill, LD1227, requesting that there be an increase in the amount of the MainePers pension that NOT taxed my the state. Currently Social Security amount is $36,000 . In Maine ours is only the first $10,000. Tell them what you think about this situation!

Here is the easiest way to send your story (testimony)
This information is for the Clerk to the AFA committee, If you send here they will be distributed to the whole committee.

Start email or letter with :
The Honorable Senator Breen and Representative Pierce and members of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee.....

Send to:
Clerk Judith Hannum
Office of Fiscal and Program Review
5 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Phone: 287-1635,
AFC e-mail: AFA@legislature.maine.gov

This short session is over in APRIL so act NOW

Treasurer's Report - March 2022

from Gina Fuller

Treasurer's Report

Recipe -

USUALLY, I enclose one very easy, quick recipe - but this link was just too tempting.

Click this link to see 53 cake recipes from Epicurious.

Epicurious Cake Recipes

We invite you to follow us on Facebook:
MEA Retired - Facebook

Announcing some changes - and opportunities

So, I've always had my own website/server, or access to one.  Over the past several months, I've been extending and expanding my hobby - of providing a site for publications. 

I think you all have a story to tell, or a story to share, or an insight or two.  You now have a chance to publish it on-line by submitting it to PithnGrit, my publication website for essays, fiction, micro-poetry, or longer poetry.

You can check it all out - it's still a work in progress - by going to - mainenet.org.

You can submit a work or works by reading the submission guidelines and sending the email to - submit@mainenet.org

Go ahead, it's perfectly fine to share that observation, insight, or creation.  I'll bet we all have stories to share.