Monday, August 8, 2011

"How does the tentative sale of the LA Office of Group Benefits Benefit Anyone ?

To address the concerns of LA taxpayers, the League of WoMen Voters of Baton Rouge (LWVBR) announced today that the August "Lunch With the League" (LWL) will be held on Tuesday, August 16, 11:30 a.m. at Drusilla Place Catering, 3482 Drusilla Lane, Baton Rouge on the topic "How does the tentative sale of the LA Office of Group Benefits(OGB) benefit anyone?"

Invited forum panelists are: Governor Bobby Jindal and/or his representative Commissioner Paul Rainwater or Chief of Staff/Executive Counsel Stephen Waguespack; G. Rolfe Miller, Managing Director, Morgan Keegan or the MK Representative handling the OGB contract; state Senator Butch Gautreaux, Chair, Senate Retirement Committee; Tommy Teague, Former CEO, OGB (Institutional knowledge); Stephen Monaghan, President, Louisiana Federation of Teachers (All Active employees); and Frank Jobert, Executive Director, Retired State Employees of Louisiana Association (All Retired Employees).

Panelists, who have accepted are: Senator Gautreaux, Tommy Teague, Stephen Monagan, and Frank Jobert.

On July 15, 2011 when the Jindal administration announced that Morgan Keegan would advise the Jindal Administration on a possible privatization of the Office of Group Benefits, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater said in a prepared statement, “This is an important first step in what will be a lengthy, careful and thorough evaluation process to arrive at the best possible policy for plan members and taxpayers alike." He went on to say that Morgan Keegan’s role will be to determine the “proper administrative structure” of the Office of Group Benefits.

In correspondence to the LWVBR Friday morning, G. Rolfe Miller, Managing Director, Morgan Keegan (Baton Rouge) wrote : "I spoke with our investment bankers last night and they indicated that we have not been hired yet to serve as adviser. Therefore it would be inappropriate for us to participate in this Forum."

Commissioner Rainwater's office notified Jean Armstrong, LWVBR President, early Friday morning,that the Commissioner was still trying to work out his schedule to attend the event on Aug. 16 but could not commit to attend until closer to the date. Chief of Staff Stephen Waguespack has not returned phone calls so far.

The event is open to the public. General Admission Tickets are $25.00. Member Discounted Tickets are $20.00. Reservations are encouraged to ensured seating. To purchase tickets, go to: www.lwvbr.org or send your request to: lwvbr@lwvbr.org For further information, call 225/927-2255.





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