Pension Reform Bill Eliminates the early withdraw penalty provision in DROP plans and Includes HELPS Retirees Act

The F.O.P. scored a major legislative victory last night when the Senate passed H.R. 4, the "Pension Protection Act of 2006," by a 93-5 vote. This came after the House approved the bill 279-130 last week. The bill eliminates the Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROP) provision, and includes the "Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (HELPS) Retirees Act," both of which the F.O.P. had been lobbying for quite some time now. "The bill is a major victory for our officers, many of whom are hurt by the DROP provision and have trouble affording decent health insurance," National President Chuck

Canterbury stated. "Many of our officers are forced to retire earlier than the rest of the general population and are unfairly penalized because of this. This bill will help end this and save many of our officers a great deal of money. "The DROP provision, which is included in section 828 of H.R. 4, would eliminate the ten percent (10%) early withdrawal penalty from a government defined benefit plan for public safety officers participating in Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROP). Under current law, a law enforcement officer who leaves active service before the age of 55 and opts to receive a lump-sum payment under

DROP before the age of 59 ½ is subject to an early withdrawal penalty of ten percent (10%). The HELPS provision, which is included in Section 845 of H.R. 4, would provide a modest tax benefit to help retired public safety officers afford health insurance by allowing the use, on a pretax basis, of up to $3,000 annually from their pension funds (including defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans) to pay for premiums on health care and long-term care insurance. The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest law enforcement labor organization in the United States, with more than 324,000 members.

Published by California Fraternal Order of Police © 2006

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Norco sent help to Norco
California city has same name, big heart
Friday, August 11, 2006
By Matt Scallan River Parishes bureau

A meeting of Norco residents in the weeks before Hurricane Katrina led to $10,000 in storm relief to schools in the St. Charles Parish community from a California city of the same name.
But getting the money to the St. Charles Parish community may have been harder than raising it.
Shortly after the storm, the residents and students of Norco, Calif., a city of 26,000 near Los Angeles, collected pocket change, held pancake breakfasts and solicited donations from businesses to help residents of the St. Charles Parish community of 3,500 residents.
Norco, Calif., resident Cindi van der Sluys Veer, who spearheaded the fund-raiser, was in New Orleans with her husband in July 2005, at a Fraternal Order of Police convention. There they met Patrick Yoes, a captain in the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office who helped organize the convention.
He struck up a conversation with the couple after seeing her husband, an Irvine, Calif., police officer, wearing a Norco softball T-shirt.
"When the storm hit, and we saw on television what was happening, we felt we had to do something. We had a connection because we had just been there," van der Sluys Veer said. "We had an event in the Superdome."
Van der Sluys Veer is active in the Norco Elementary PTA, and marshaled the group in her fund-raising efforts. Because the school is in session year-round, she was able to move quickly.
"We started out by just collecting pocket change, then we used our pancake breakfast in September. After that we went to the other three schools in Norco and they started collecting too," she said.
The money was donated to the two Norco Elementary public schools and Sacred Heart of Jesus Elementary, also in Norco.
Though other communities suffered far worse damage than Norco, the community's population was swollen by evacuees. Many of them had lost everything.
Anne Haydel, principal of the Norco Elementary (Grades 4-6) school, said her school's share of the money went to buy uniforms and supplies for students who could not afford them, including the children of evacuees. "In some cases we had to buy everything, including underwear," Haydel said.
By October the group had raised $10,000 and was looking for the best way to get the money to the community, a task that proved more difficult than expected. The group donated the money to the American Red Cross with an understanding that it would be earmarked for Norco. However, several months later, the group learned that the money had been placed in a general Katrina relief account.
They asked for a refund and got it in May. With the help of Parish Councilman Richard Duhe, the money was sent to the Norco Civic Association, which distributed it to the three schools, van der Sluys Veer said. Haydel said the students in her school will be busy writing thank-you notes to the California students when they get back to school in the next few days.
Van der Sluys Veer said the schoolchildren of her city benefited from the effort as well. "It started out as change, but it grew into so much more," she said. "It was very exciting to see that people wanted to help. They were able to bond with the idea of helping another Norco."

Know your National Elected Officers

Chuck was elected at the 2003 National Conference by acclamation. He had been serving as President since January 2003 after the death of President Steve Young.
President Canterbury joined the Fraternal Order of Police in 1984 when he, along with eleven other officers, chartered their Local Lodge. He served as Local Lodge President for 13 years, during which time he was instrumental in starting the Lodge Legal Defense Plan, purchasing the first lodge building, and starting the Lodge insurance program.
He went on to serve as State Lodge President from 1990 to 1998. During his tenure he was instrumental in establishing the State Lodge lobbying program, initiating the political endorsement program and implementing the State Lodge Legal Defense Plan. He led the effort to hire a full time Executive Director for the State Lodge to manage these programs.
He began his service on the Grand Lodge Executive Board in 1995 when he was elected to the first of three terms as the Second Vice President. In 2001, he was elected Vice President. During this time, he has worked to expand the police labor movement in the areas of our country who do not have collective bargaining rights. Improving the quality of life for police officers has been his foremost goal.
President Canterbury retired in January 2004 from the Horry County Police Department, Conway, South Carolina, where he most recently had oversight of the Operations Bureau. He began his police career in 1978 and over his 25-year career he worked in the Patrol Division, the Criminal Investigations Division and served as the Training Division Supervisor, during which he was certified as an Instructor in basic law enforcement, firearms, chemical weapons, and pursuit driving.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Coastal Carolina University. He resides in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he has raised two children, both of whom are attending college.

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ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP

Any full-time, sworn law enforcement officer with arrest power who is employed by a government entity may become a member of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Any regularly appointed or elected and full-time employed law enforcement officer of the United States, any state or political subdivision thereof, or any agency may be eligible for membership in the Fraternal Order of Police, No person shall be denied membership on account of race, religion, color, creed, sex, age, or national origin.

If you are interested in joining the Fraternal Order of Police, or if you are interested in forming your own local lodge, contact the State Lodge Vice President, Bill Westermann at wmwestermann@sbcglobal.net

RETIRED MEMBERSHIP

Each local lodge has its own requirements regarding membership for retired law enforcement officers. If you are a retired law enforcement officer and wish to join the Fraternal Order of Police, you will need to contact the local FOP lodge you wish to join. If you do not know which local lodge is closest to you, contact the State Lodge.