A contentious city council meeting lasting nearly three hours Wednesday night ended with a 5-2 vote in favor of reinstating the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, a savings program that hasn’t been available to city employees since 1996. For months, Presque Isle’s first responders have pressed city officials to adopt the program, which law enforcement personnel have said would improve their employee retention rates, keeping officers on the force longer.

On behalf of the International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO, I am proud to offer our support and endorsement of your thoughtful legislation, H.R. 4540, the "Public Servants Protection and Fairness Act"  We represent rank and file Law Enforcement Professionals across this great nation as well as in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Many of our members bravely serve and protect the people of Massachusetts.  This Bill will [...]

On behalf of the International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO, I am proud to join those who endorse and support your thoughtful legislation, S 2552, "Expanding Health Care Options for Early Retirees Act". I.U.P.A. represents rank and file Law Enforcement Officers across this great nation, many of whom serve the residents of Ohio. As you know, Law Enforcement Officers work in a challenging physical and emotional environment. Their experiences and [...]

In a dispute about what constitutes an “act of duty” death, a state appeals panel agreed the Maywood Police Pension Board was right to deny a surviving spouse pension to the wife of an officer who died as a result of a drug overdose.The board denied a pension allocation to Tangela Gatz, widow of Maywood Police Officer Ryan Gatz, who died at home in July 2016 at age 35. Investigators [...]

The latest proposed expansion of Medicare benefits could be a welcome health insurance option to early retirees who leave employment or have been forced out of their jobs before the age of 65.Democratic U.S. Senators unveiled the latest version of Medicare expansion Wednesday, calling it the “Medicare at 50 Act,” which would allow people between the ages of 50 and 64 the option of buying into Medicare. Introduced by Sens. Debbie Stabenow [...]

YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN needs to be aligned with what you need and want. “As a whole, retirement plans can never be one size fits all, because everybody is very different,” says Ephie Coumanakos, co-founder and managing partner at Concord Financial Group in Wilmington, Delaware.