Charles Luukinen has spent a lifetime serving the community, both personally and professionally. For more than 20 years, he served Oregonians as a judge. He now works on behalf of public employee retirees as a member of the OPRI Board of Directors. Luukinen began his judicial career in 1986 as a District Court Judge. He…
Use caution with alternative light and heating sources to avoid unintentional fire from candles, harmful fumes from kerosene heaters used indoors without proper ventilation or deadly carbon monoxide from use of charcoal briquettes indoors. Lock in home heat by tacking blankets over windows and doorways to keep the cold out and putting rolled towels at…
By The Oregonian Editorial Board Gov. Kate Brown defended her decision to prioritize teachers for the COVID-19 vaccine as one of the tough calls she’s had to make amid a vaccine shortage. Reopening schools is paramount and necessitates immunizing educators, she said, pointing out the many shortcomings of remote learning, the social isolation students are experiencing…
OPRI is focused on protecting the hard-earned benefits of PERS retirees during the 2021 Legislative Session with the introduction of a bill that would more quickly reinstate Tax Remedy Payments for retirees who are either unable to timely confirm their Oregon residency or who establish Oregon residency during the year. HB 2867 is introduced by…
When Deanna Woods retired, she wondered what she would do with her time. But filling her time has not been a problem. The newest OPRI Board member shares that the key is to keep learning and to do something that makes a difference. Throughout her career, Deanna served in the Portland Public Schools, where she…
On August 6, 2020, the Oregon Supreme Court denied the challenge brought forward by public employee unions regarding pension benefit reductions which passed during the 2019 Legislative Session through Senate Bill 1049. The lawsuit alleged that SB 1049 was unconstitutional and sought to overturn provisions of the law. Here is a look back at the…
The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the reductions in public employee pension benefits that the Legislature passed in 2019 to help address the state’s burgeoning pension funding deficit and rein in the escalating pension costs and resulting budget problems for public employers. Read the full story on The Oregonian
Oregon lawmakers have successfully, if perhaps temporarily, halted the steady upward trajectory of public pension costs for government employers, according to a preliminary analysis of pension contribution rates that will kick in a year from now. That’s good news for public employers around the state struggling with revenue declines amid an economic recession, and increased service needs…
Helga Thompson dedicated her career to educating children. Now, as an OPRI Board member, she dedicates time to protecting retirement benefits for teachers like herself. Born in West Germany, Helga’s family immigrated to the U.S. when she was six years old. Helga describes her life growing up as calm and quiet, her father working in…
It’s been 10 weeks since Governor Brown issued the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order that resulted from our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oregonians made many sacrifices to stay home as much as possible in order to slow the spread of the virus. Now, as Stay Home orders begin to lift across Oregon, many…