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To the editor:
Co-president Pat Horton and I are writing to invite and encourage all Jefferson County PERI benefits recipients to attend our monthly meetings. We meet from 11 a.m. to noon the second Wednesday every month in the Fiesta Room at Froehlich's Classic Corner at 501 Washington St. in Steubenville.
The mission of Public Employees Retirement Inc. to protect and preserve our OPERS pension and benefits programs is vitally important.
We are a great resource for learning what's happening with PERI at the local and district levels as well as a means of connecting with fellow benefit recipients. We offer a relaxed atmosphere along with beneficial speakers from the district and our area who provide essential and helpful programs to our demographic. We encourage and enjoy member participation during our meetings along with an inexpensive off-the-menu meal.
Paid membership in our chapter or at the state level is not a requirement to attend our meetings; however, joining the local chapter will give you voting privileges during the meetings and allow you to be included in all our correspondence to the district and to our state representatives. Joining at the State level gives PERI more voting leverage on PERI related issues.
Our chapter has sent several letters to U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, asking him to co-sponsor H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, which would repeal the Windfall Eliminations Provisions and the Government Pension Offset under current Social Security law. While we can't say that our letter was the deciding factor, Johnson has now signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill and we're pretty excited about that.
Jim Range, District 9 representative for all Jefferson County chapters, will be speaking at our Wednesday meeting. This would be a great opportunity to meet Jim and hear firsthand the happenings in our district and ask any questions you may have.
We look forward to meeting everyone at our upcoming chapter meetings. You can also visit the PERI website at operi.org for additional information.
Terry L. Jennings
Jefferson County Chapter 5
PERI co-president