Recap of CTPF Bord of Trustee January 18, 2024 Meeting

 This podcast will educate you on how your pension plan at CTPF is being managed and what steps you can take to safeguard your "Defined Benefit." 

Good afternoon. Today is January 19th, 2024 and this is Tina Padilla, the founding member of the Pension Advocacy Group (PAG).

In this podcast, I will recap and comment on the monthly CTPF Board of Trustees meetings.  In addition, when the video recordings of these meetings become available, I will alert and direct everyone to the CTPF website where it has been promised, that they will be posted.  

In today’s episode, along with the updates from the January 18 Board Meeting, I will share ideas for some actions that you, the contributors, and beneficiaries of the Fund, may be interested in engaging in.

Let’s go, During the Lobbyist report, Mr. Clayborne, the Fund’s lobbyist, shared, that at this time, HB4098, a bill aimed at improving Tier 2, is in a holding pattern, and Tier 2 overall is under review. The number of that bill is likely to change when the cost and other language is negotiated.

That being said, I believe now is a perfect time, for PAG and the CTU’s  Tier 2 committee to work together to draft language supporting a  repeal of Tier 2, which  Trustee Washington the chair of the Pension Laws and Administrative Rules, and our lobbyist can present to legislators.

From the Executive Director’s report, we learned that the final collection of 2023 funds has been received from CPS. -------------The State of Illinois has also made regular payments for its 2024 obligations. However, multiple checks and balances need to happen for PAG to confirm the accuracy of this report.

As for the IT project named TITUS, a very expensive but needed upgrade to our IT infrastructure, and everything IT is on track and on budget.

Executive Director Carolton Lenoir Sr. reported that investment staff have been conducting regular due diligence to mitigate the risk of significant investment losses. However, the FOIA requests that I submitted for two of our investments were denied.  

It is in our statute and investment policy that trustees must participate in annual due diligence of all investment managers. 

#11 of the agenda which includes a report of the committee on Claims, MSU Jan 2024 Wrap-up Code Report, Board performance Report, Admin Expenses, FY 2024 Administrative Expense Budget Report, and 9 more items moved to the Omnibus, were approved with no discussion or explanation.

If you have any questions, please contact the trustees. You can find trustee email addresses by searching on the Fund’s website, CTPF.org.  

Dates to remember:

On January 23, 2024, CTPF will host a webinar, called Understanding Tier 2 Benefits. Tier 2 teachers are encouraged to attend and bring questions about how to repeal Tier 2, which is currently not compliant with the safe harbor rule and is economically unjust.

There is no monthly board meeting scheduled for February.

However, two important dates to remember are the First Friday/ Investment Committee Meeting on February 2, 2024, at 9:30AM.

On February 27, the Investment Committee will meet at 9:30AM, followed by Finance and Audit Committee meeting. All meetings will be conducted in a hybrid format, and signup information for virtual and in-person attendance is available on the CTPF website.

Thank you for joining me for our in-au-gu-ral podcast.  Look for more news and activity from the Pension Advocacy Group on Facebook, and on X (formerly known as Twitter).  This is Tina Padilla – until next time. Ciao, Ciao for now!