PERS to be focus of MSU retired faculty meeting

Possible changes to the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) will be the focus of an expert panel discussion at Tuesday's meeting of the Association of Retired Faculty (ARF).

The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. in the Hunter Henry Center on the Mississippi State University campus. The event is free and open to the public.

ARF Vice President and program chairman Marty Wiseman said legislation related to PERS is “definitely coming down the pike.”

“Legislators are giving us fair warning that changes are coming, so this is a topic of major importance to all current state retirees and those who plan to retire during the next several years,” Wiseman said.

State Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, will speak at the event. Bryan has been a member of the legislature since 1984, and will be joined by three leaders of the Mississippi Retired Public Employees' Association (MRPEA).

MRPEA was formed in 1985 with the purpose of helping preserve and protect the PERS defined benefit plan.

MRPEA representatives speaking at the ARF meeting include President Ann Thames and Vice President Ed LeGrand, both retired from the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, and Networking Committee chair Mike Larsen, previously a staff member of the Mississippi Development Authority and State Health Department.

PERS defined benefit plans currently enroll approximately 400,000 working members in state agencies, schools and colleges, and local governments and serve more than 100,000 retirees and beneficiaries.

Membership in ARF is open to retired faculty and professional staff of Mississippi State.