Dear MCPSRA Member.

Once again, our health benefits may be in jeopardy, and we need your immediate help.

As you may know, retiree health benefits are determined by MCPS and the Board of Education. Health benefits for retirees are paid for from a trust fund established by the Montgomery County Council. We are writing to you today to share our serious concerns about a proposed change in the management and operation of that trust fund being considered by the Montgomery County Council, known as Bill 28-24. We are asking you to write Council members today as the bill will be discussed in the coming week.

Why are we concerned?

Bill 28-24 will change the highly successful governance model of the County’s investment trust funds for retirement and retiree health benefits. The trust is known as the Consolidated Retiree Health Benefits Trust, and includes an MCPS retiree representative, an MCPS association representative, and an MCPS representative appointed by the superintendent of schools. The model is now a shared responsibility between the boards and the Montgomery County Chief Administrative Officer. The board’s focus is on the investment of retirement assets that now total more than $8 billion. The Chief Administrative Officer, as the Plan Administrator, selects the actuary and sets actuarial assumptions. Bill 28-24 would shift these decisions to the boards only, removing county government oversight of public funds from the process.

The current governance model of shared responsibility provides essential controls and guardrails that protect the trust funds’ massive assets. These controls and guardrails ensure that our retiree health benefits will be fully secure. The proposed shift also raises other fiscal and legal questions, including potential conflicts of interest.

For these reasons, MCPSRA strongly opposes Bill 28-24. The Government Operations Committee will act on the bill on February 5, 2026, and the Council shortly thereafter. Now is time to act!

We are asking you to email each member of the County Council stating your opposition to Bill 28-24, regardless of where you currently reside, and to ask them to retain the current successful shared responsibility model.  This current model has protected our financial security for years and there is no reason for change. The proposed model introduces unnecessary risks to a collaborative process that has protected our health benefits and financial security for years. 

Below, we have provided the email addresses of the County Council along with a suggested message. Please share this message with anyone who may be impacted by the proposed Bill 28-24. Your MCPSRA Board of Directors is grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

The MCPSRA Board of Directors

Montgomery County Council emails:

Councilmember.Evans@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Balcombe@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Fani-Gonzalez@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Friedson@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Glass@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Jawando@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Katz@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Luedtke@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Mink@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Sayles@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.Stewart@montgomerycountymd.gov

Suggested Wording:  

As a Montgomery County Public Schools retiree, I strongly oppose Bill 28-24 and urge you to retain the current shared-responsibility governance model.  The current structure has successfully protected retiree’s health benefits and has provided essential checks and balances in the management of more than $8 billion in public trust funds.