Ohio Did it Right
In the 1930s, when Ohio established pension funds for their publicly employed workers, they did it right.
They separated the operation and investment decisions from legislators and put them into the hands of an employee-elected board of trustees.
The legislature still establishes the rules and pension plans and it retains oversight of the pension systems to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements
So, Why is there a Problem?
As the pension systems received deposits and began earning investment returns, the dollar balances in the funds became enormous.
Now we have politicians who want to tell the pension system boards where they can, and cannot, invest our funds.
Corporations don’t like defined benefit pension systems, because their directors can and do vote their shares, and they can and do sue when there is corporate wrongdoing.
Stockbrokers don’t like defined benefit pension systems, because only a few knowledgeable firms are entrusted, and they must prove the validity of their recommendations.
Here it is in a Nutshell
Some politicians want to use our retirement funds for their benefit and not ours. Corporations want to eliminate the power defined benefit systems have to protect our pension investments. Stockbrokers want to earn huge fees from individual retirees.
Protect Ohio Pensions, Inc. includes retired and current worker members from all five of Ohio’s pension systems. We are joined together for the purpose of building the largest and strongest association possible for addressing those issues that are potentially harmful to the health and wellbeing of all of Ohio’s defined benefit pension funds, and the healthcare benefits they provide.
Board of Trustees
Nancy King
Ed Wells
Ron Willinski
Candace Shicks
Ed Ciecka
Staff
Mary Frances Kamyar
Keith Kleiber
Constitution
PROTECT OHIO PENSIONS, INC.
(Adopted 1/29/2016)
(Amended 8/23/2018)
(Amended 8/25/2022)
ARTICLE I: NAME
The name of this association shall be: PROTECT OHIO PENSIONS, INC.
ARTICLE II: PURPOSE AND MISSION
The purpose of this non-profit, non-partisan association is to support and protect the defined benefit pension plans of the following five Ohio public pension systems: Public Employees, State Teachers, School Employees, Police & Fire, and Highway Patrol; by educating members on issues that could impact the stability of the funds and their ability to continue providing a meaningful retirement pension and benefit package, and by educating the public about the cost savings to them and the economic value to their local communities by maintaining Ohio’s current pension programs.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: The membership of the association shall be limited to contributing, retired, and survivor members of, the above-mentioned pension systems, and/or those receiving disability benefits, and other Ohio taxpayers.
Section 2: There shall be two types of memberships: Regular and Life.
Section 3: Regular Membership shall be granted to and held by those who have paid the required dues.
Section 4: Life Membership shall be granted to and held by those who have paid the, then required, one-time single payment. Life Memberships do not transfer to survivors.
ARTICLE IV: GOVERNMENT
Section 1: The association shall be governed by its Board of Trustees.
Section 2: The Board of Trustees shall be comprised of a maximum of five (5) at large members and a maximum of five (5) representatives, from the five pension systems.
ARTICLE V. BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Section 1: The Board is to adopt operating procedures for the association. It is to fix the hour and place of special and annual meetings, and establish such other policies as authorized by the constitution or as
necessitated by law or non-profit operating procedures.
Section 2: The Board shall schedule regular meetings.
Section 3: Special meetings of the Board may be called by the Chairperson and shall be called by the Chairperson upon the written request of three (3) members of the Board.
Section 4: Trustees (Officers and Representatives) are required to attend, in person or remotely, all Board meetings.
Section 5: A position on the Board shall be considered vacant when the member holding that position has been absent from three (3) consecutive Board meetings without the approval of the Board Chair.
ARTICLE VI: OFFICERS
Section 1: The officers of the association shall be a Chairperson, a Vice Chair, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. These officers shall constitute the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall have supervision of the affairs of the association between regularly scheduled Board meetings.
Section 2: The chairperson shall preside at all meetings, appoint all committees and shall have such further duties as ordinarily pertain to an office of Chairperson.
Section 3: The Vice Chair shall aid the chairperson and shall prepare himself, or herself, to function as the Chairperson should the need arise.
Section 4: The Treasurer shall be responsible for overseeing the receipt and deposit of all monies paid to the association and shall ensure they are deposited in such depositories as the Board may direct and shall
ensure they are only disbursed as authorized by the Board. He or she shall oversee the keeping of the financial accounts and records of the association and render a report at the regularly scheduled Board meetings, the organization's Annual Meeting, and at such other times as the Chairperson, Executive Committee, or Board may require.
He or she shall make all corporate records, accounts, and books available to the Officers, Trustees, and/or auditors named by the Board, at all times.
Section 5: The Secretary shall provide for the recording, preparation, and maintenance of all corporate minutes and historical records.
Section 6: All Trustee positions are volunteer positions and no trustee shall receive any compensation other than reimbursement for expenses as detailed in the Expense Reimbursement Schedule. If a person serving as a trustee is also under a staff contract, he, or she, may receive compensation as determined by the board for the duties described in that contract.
ARTICLE VII: TERMS, QUALIFICATIONS AND APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS
Section 1: The term for all officer positions shall be continual unless or until one of the following occurs: resignation, absenteeism, physical or mental incapacity, moral or financial turpitude, or removal for cause by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the sitting Board of Trustees.
Section 2: Officers may be a non-government employee or a retired or active member of any one of the five pension systems and a current member of Protect Ohio Pensions, Inc.
Section 3: All officer positions are made by appointment by a majority vote of the Board of Trustees.
Section 4: No person shall hold more than one position on the Board at the same time.
ARTICLE VIII: PENSION SYSTEM REPRESENTATIVES
Section 1: Each of the five (5) pension systems is encouraged to have one (1) member on the Board of Trustees.
Section 2: A pension representative is responsible for conveying the concerns of his or her pension system to the board.
ARTICLE IX: TERMS, QUALIFICATIONS AND APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES
Section 1: The term for all representative positions shall be continual unless or until one of the following occurs: resignation, absenteeism, physical or mental incapacity, moral or financial turpitude, or
removal for cause by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the sitting Board of Trustees.
Section 2: A pension system representative must be a retired or active member of the pension system they represent, and a current member of Protect Ohio Pensions, Inc.
Section 3: All representative positions are made by appointment, by a majority vote of the Board of Trustees.
Section 4: No person shall hold more than one position on the Board at the same time.
ARTICLE X: DUES
The organization shall operate on the dues and fees collected, and on the interest or dividends derived there from. Regular Membership dues and Life Membership fees shall be established by the Board.
ARTICLE XI: RESERVE ACCOUNT
Section 1: The Board of Trustees may create a Reserve Account from memberships and fees collected and retained in accounts separate from the operating account. Funds so designated are to be held in depositories limited to savings, checking and money markets in federally insured institutions.
Section 2: The Board of Trustees shall determine the amount of funds allocated to the reserve account annually when adopting the annual budget.
Section 3: Principal funds in the reserve account may be used by a majority vote of the Board, to advocate
against any action deemed to cause potential long-term harm to Ohio’s defined-benefit pension concept, legal actions filed against the association or to pay close-out costs should the Board of Trustees decide to dissolve the association.
ARTICLE XII: AMENDMENTS
Section 1: The Constitution may be amended with the ballot approval of a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the Board of Trustees.
Section 2: Amendments to the Constitution may also be proposed by a petition signed by one (1) percent of the members of record as of April 1, with no more than one third (1/3) of the signers from any one pension system.
Section 3: Petitions to amend the Constitution, in addition to the required signatures, shall include the Article and Section to be amended, all articles and sections referenced, and the proposed new wording.
Section 4: Petitions must be presented to the Board for signature certification no later than August 1 of the year in which a vote is to be taken. Prior to October 15, all members of record as of September 31 shall be notified in writing of all items requiring a vote. An official ballot or ballots shall be included with the notification.
Notification shall be considered satisfied by placement of the required material in the hands of the U.S. Postal Service.
The official ballots received at the association's main office prior to 5 P.M. November 15 shall constitute the voting membership. Should November 15 fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the date will be extended to the ensuing Monday.
ARTICLE XIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the association in all cases that are not consistent with this Constitution or any special rules of order the association may adopt.