Officers

Walt Pulliam, Jr.President9210 Waterloo Court Richmond, VA 23229804-741-5466waltpulliam@verizon.netVDOC

Dee EsserVice President4600 Willow Leaf PlaceHenrico, VA 23228804-740-8898d_esser@verizon.netVEC

Faye SpruillTreasurer4818 Village Lake DriveRichmond, VA 23234804-272-7065fzspruill@verizon.netSCHEV

Janet MartinoSecretary3010 Briar LaneRichmond, VA 23228804-264-1009janetwva@msn.comDOLI

1011 East Main Street, Suite 400Richmond, VA 23219info@vgea.org804-355-31201-877-302-7146

It’s February and that means the General Assembly is in Richmond! This year, it’s joined by a new gubernatorial adminis-

tration. VGEA staff has been actively engaged in advocating for state employees. Increased pay, maintenance of VRS funding, containing healthcare costs, and supporting equal op-portunity are among our priorities.

For retirees, SB 101 would allow retiring employees to buy optional life insurance if they pay the premiums. SB 102 and HB 1105 would set $8,000 as the minimum life insurance payout. Currently, the average funeral cost is about $7,600. SB 103 and HB 1104 would raise the monthly healthcare credit from $4 to $5 per service year. Sen. Frank Ruff Jr., (R-Clarksville) and Del. Riley Ingram (R-Hopewell), patroned these bills, which have been referred to the money committees. HB 304, patroned by Del. John O’Bannon, (R-Henrico) would limit the co-pay for specialty drugs to $150 for a 30-day supply. They deserve our thanks.

The Senate bills were considered by the Finance Committee on January 29. Jim Roberts, VGEA Lobbyist and I spoke in favor of the bills. SB 101 was killed. SB102 moved forward. SB 103 was amended and contin-ued for further study. The primary objec-tion was additions to the VRS’ unfunded liability. Many budget amendments have a “contingency clause,” i.e. the money must be identified for the proposed amendment to be approved. We as members need to be engaged as well.

We can follow events in the ForeSight and the frequent eNews bulletins. We can go to virginiageneralassembly.gov to track bills and to locate the contact information for the Senators and Delegates. We can let them know our views on issues and concerns. We can offer suggested solutions to problems and encouragement when positive steps are taken. We can participate in VGEA’s Legisla-tive Day on February 17, when members will convene at 8:30 a.m. at the VGEA office at 1011 E. Main Street for a quick brief-ing. Then we will visit with legislators, and return for lunch.

Ann Bordelon, our Nominations Committee Chair, moved that the Chapter Officer terms be two (2) years. This was approved. Thus, our Vice President, Dee Esser; our Secretary Janet Martino; our Treasurer Faye Spruill; and I will serve until April 2015. We are all looking forward to serving and welcome any suggestions you have to better our Chapter.

Our Monday, February 10 meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. in the activity/sales office building at Imperial Plaza, 1717 Bellevue Avenue, Richmond (804.262.6537). Our speaker will be Randall Davis of the Attor-ney General’s Medicaid Fraud Unit. Keeping healthcare in check is a major problem and Mr. Davis will help inform us how health programs and services are defrauded and what might be done. Please join in and bring a friend.

Walt Pulliam Jr. President

A Message from the President...

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Retirees’ Chapter NewsVirginia Governmental Employees Association

Febuary 2014

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The 2014 January Meeting of the Retiree Chapter was held on the 27th at Imperial Plaza. The meet-ing was conducted by Walt Pulliam, Jr., President.

He welcomed everyone, and introduced Cindy Harrison who was attending for the first time.Dee Esser, Vice President, introduced our speaker, Donald W. Piacentini, Es-quire, of Parker, Pollard, Wilton, and Peaden.

Atty. Piacentini stated that since everyone has assets, all of us need to do estate planning to protect the family. The govern-ment only gets your estate if it is taxed or goes into unclaimed property. You don’t have to worry about estate taxes unless your estate is valued at $5,250,000.For Estate Planning, we need three things: a Will, a Durable Power of Attorney and an Ad-vance Directive.

A Will is effective after death. It is essential to keep it up-to-date as it di-rects where your proper-ty goes, who handles your estate, and should ad-dress trusts for minors. It can be expensive if there is no will. A judge decides who will be the adminis-trator and a guardian for minors or incapacitated beneficiaries. There will be attorney fees, a premi-um to a bonding company and costs of court proceed-ings. A homemade will is dangerous. Many times it contains ambiguous, unclear language. Your property could pass to people you do not want to be a beneficiary.

There are several issues that you need to discuss with your estate attorney. One issue is how you want your children treated if your spouse should remarry. Do you need to establish a “Special Needs” Trust for a disabled

spouse or child? Ad-ditionally, you need to name an executor, at least one of whom should be a Virginia resident. It can be a spouse, a child, an at-torney, or your bank.

You should review your Will every two to five years; or if you change your state of residence, your finan-cial situation changes, a change in tax laws occurs, or there is a change in your family life.

Probate is the court administration and oversight of your af-fairs at death. When an individual who owns property and has a Will passes away, the probate rules re-quire that the will be submitted to the local court. Probate sets a specific time frame for creditors to make a claim against the estate. The disadvan-tages of probate is that it may become expen-sive, unhappy relatives can contest the will,

and a will is then a public record and is available for public viewing.

To avoid probate a “Living Trust” is the best tool. A “Liv-ing Trust” is used during the lifetime of its creators. It is “Revocable” to allow it to be changed or terminated at

Virginia Governmental Employees AssociationRichmond Retirees Chapter

January 2014 Meeting Minutes

January’s extremely arctic temperatures caused the fountain to become an unusual

ice sculpture on Capitol Square.

any time by its creator. Having a Revocable Trust as op-posed to a will saves money, provides privacy, and avoids contests to the will.

In addition to the will, we need a Durable Power of At-torney. It is only effective while you are alive. It is a legal document in which you designate another person to act for you. We need to have experienced legal advice in drafting this document. A General Power of Attorney is a document filled with pitfalls when not prepared by a skilled attorney. Forms are available on the Internet and in books, but you should be aware that these forms may fail to do the job.

If you were to become incapacitated without a Durable Power of Attorney, someone would have to go to court to have a judge appoint an Attorney Ad Latium. This is expensive; and if you were to recover, you would end up with large legal fees.

Lastly, everyone needs an Advance Directive. A written directive may appoint an agent to make health care deci-sions for you. The document must be signed in the pres-ence of two witnesses who are not related by blood or marriage. It does not need to be notarized. If you wish to be cremated, it should be included in the Advance Direc-tive.

Walt asked for a report from the Nominating Committee. Anne Bordelon, Chairman, made a motion that the cur-rent officers serve an additional year. It was seconded by Winfree Mountcastle. Motion carried. Current officers will serve through April 2015.

The officers are:President Walt Pulliam, Jr. Vice President Dee Esser Secretary Janet Martino Treasurer Faye Spruill

Winfree Mountcastle reported that he had calculated our probable Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) at 1.46%.

Janet Martino, Secretary, asked everyone to check off their name on the member listing that is being circulated.

Faye Spruill, Treasurer, reported that the current balance is $2,074.85. She also reported that our final bill for the Christmas Luncheon at Crab Louie’s was more than the quote she had been given. We may want to consider an-other location for our Christmas Luncheon. The president asked her to go ahead and make tentative reservations for December, and that we will discuss this issue at a future meeting.

The next meeting will be 11:30 a.m. February 10 at Imperial Plaza. Our speaker will be Randall Davis

from the Attorney General’s Office. He will discuss Medicaid Fraud and Abuse.

Attorney Piacentini gave us a handout on Estate Planning that contains additional information. If you would like a copy, call Janet Martino and she will send you a copy.

Submitted by Janet Martino, Secretary

Important Telephone

Numbers For State Retirees:

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Virginia Governmental Employees Association(877) 302-7146 toll-free

(804) 355-3120 office(804) 228-4501 fax

Virginia Retirement System

(888) 827- 3847 toll- free

Social Security Administration

(800) 772- 1213 toll- free

Medicare(800) 633- 4227 /

1- 800- MEDICARE toll- free

Department for The Aging

(800) 552- 3402 toll- free

Virginia Retiree Health Benefits Program

(800) 572- 4098 toll- free

Virginia Governmental Employees Association First Class1011 East Main Street, Suite 400 U.S. PostageRichmond, VA 23219 PAID Permit#388 Richmond,VA

Don’t miss this enjoyable learning experience: our annual VGEA Legislative Day ‘on the hill’ is set for

Monday, February 17. The VGEA staff, Board of Direc-tor members and participants will park free in the Bank of America parking lot at 10th and Cary Streets downtown, then gather for coffee at the VGEA Office at 8:30 a.m. at 1011 E. Main Street, Ste. 400, Richmond. We will then split into small groups with our Board members, and walk about two blocks to the General

Assembly Building on Capitol Square at 9 a.m.

This is always a very rewarding and eye-opening experience. You may want to call your legislator

ahead of time to make an appointment to speak with him or her that day. Between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m., complimentary lunch sandwiches will be served back at the VGEA Office as you finish with your legislative visits. RSVP to 877-302-7146 or info@vgea.org.

Join Us for VGEA Legislative Day: February 17