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Ayotte-Backed Group II Retirement Fix Not Enough To Stop Class Action Lawsuit

One of Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s first signature budget wins — increasing the pension payments for firefighters, police officers, and corrections workers — isn’t enough to stop disgruntled state workers from suing.

William Woodbury, representing several state and municipal employees in the Group II retirement pool, said Ayotte’s recent reforms don’t fix the fundamental problem: The system should never have been changed in 2011, he said.

“This [lawsuit] is to show those reforms were unconstitutional, and none of the reforms since then have made these plaintiffs whole,” Woodbury said this week during a hearing in Merrimack Superior Court in Concord.

Police officers, firefighters, and corrections employees, who are all part of the Group II pool, have been fighting to restore their pension benefits since the legislature changed the plan in 2011. At the time, a serious fix was needed to keep the New Hampshire Retirement System from fiscal disaster. The 2011 legislative fix took away benefits from Group II employees who were hired before 2011, but had not yet been vested with 10 years of service before 2012.

The result, according to the lawsuit, is an unconstitutional, retroactive law that forces employees to work years past their 20-year retirement date in stressful and dangerous positions, and still see the retirement benefits they were promised before the 2011 change cut by tens of thousands of dollars. 

Since the reforms, critics of the move say New Hampshire has experienced a first responder staffing crisis. They claim the state’s pension system is often cited as a factor in candidates going somewhere else. According to WMUR in 2024, New Hampshire State Police are down more than 60 officers, Manchester Police are down 24, and Rochester is down 11. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections (DOC) had a 52 percent vacancy rate in its entry-level jobs. Under the 2011 changes, DOC staff had to work 25 years for full retirement instead of 20. 

Supporters of the changes say Americans simply don’t hold jobs as long as they used to, and employees are pulled away by higher pay and better work options today, not potential retirement payouts in the future.

Ayotte’s budget showdown with her fellow Republicans in the legislature was over their disagreement on the Group II pension issue. There are about 1,500 employees in the Group II plan retroactively impacted by the 2011 change, and Ayotte campaigned on a promise to make them whole. 

Drew Cline, president of the  Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, said Ayotte’s budget fight ended with a big win for her and the Group II employees. They didn’t get everything, but they came close, he said. New Hampshire’s pension system is underfunded, but in a much better position since the 2011 changes. Pushing benefits higher risks going back to unfunded mandates that ultimately burden taxpayers.

“We don’t want to go backwards,” Cline said.

The budget deal Ayotte got is appreciated, said Seifu Ragassa, President of the NH Group II Retirement Coalition, but it doesn’t completely close the gap.

“The NH Group II Retirement Coalition and its members are grateful to Gov. Ayotte and the legislators who supported her efforts to support our members and address the challenges faced by first responders over the past 14 years,” Ragassa said. “However, the fight to restore the benefits that were unjustly taken from first responders is far from over. We will continue to advocate until all benefits are fully restored—nothing more, nothing less.”

NH Prison Guard Union Wants Contract to Address Staffing Crisis

A union representing prison guards is urging state officials to renew a labor contract as part of an ongoing effort to address a severe staffing shortage at state prisons.

Teamsters Local 633 represents more than 380 state correctional officers. The union launched the “Safe Prisons, Safe New Hampshire” campaign this past June. The campaign is aimed at raising public awareness of the staffing shortage faced by the state corrections system.

The campaign on social media has included near-daily tweets and Facebook posts tagging Governor Chris Sununu. The union is also encouraging others to contact his office. The online campaign has found support from opponents of Sununu, including state Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley and Democratic Rep. Sherry Frost.

Contract talks between the state government and Local 633 originally began in fall of 2016 but came to a halt in March. Since July 1, state correctional officers have been working without a contract. Mediation between the state government and Local 633’s negotiating team now features a ‘fact finder’ to ensure a fair contract is reached.

In a statement provided to NH Journal, Jeffrey Padellaro, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 633, said correctional officers are “routinely forced to work three to four 16-hour shifts per week.” According to Padellaro, officers have put in nearly 12,000 overtime work hours in 2017.

“We are seeking a contract that addresses the prison staffing crisis at New Hampshire state prisons,” Padellaro said. “Dangerously low staffing levels mean our correction officers are working excessive amounts of forced overtime – which is creating safety concerns and putting enormous strain on officers.”

He added this situation affects not only the correctional officers but the prisoners, as well, who have seen their visits and activities cut short due to coverage issues. These shortage issues come as Department of Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn announced that he is stepping down in November.

Padellaro said the Concord Prison for Men has 187 uniformed staff, nearly 100 officers less than it would take to “maintain critical operations” and 200 officers less than “to operate at a normal activity level.” Padellaro added that the state has lost six officers over the past two years despite the state’s recruitment efforts.

Local 633 said the absence of a contract has also delayed the planned opening of the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Concord. Padellaro said the facility is near completion and ready for occupancy but will require 74 officers to staff while the state legislature has only authorized funds to hire for 55 officers.

One factor to the hiring shortage is the starting salaries for state correctional officers, which are $10,000 less than the average starting pay at local police departments. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median income for correctional officers in New Hampshire is $42,820. Officers at Federal Correction Institute, Berlin – New Hampshire’s lone federal prison – and those working in correctional facilities in Massachusetts make almost $22,000 more than New Hampshire state officers.

“It’s an investment worth making,” Padellaro said. “Investing in hard-working corrections officers is a far better use of taxpayer dollars – and is more cost effective – than paying for excessive forced overtime and high turnover as a result of officers leaving for better positions.”

In addition to the staffing crisis, overcrowding has remained a problem for the state prison system. There are five state prison facilities in New Hampshire. According to the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, last year the state prison population was 2,631, nearly double the amount since 1990.

“This is a prison safety crisis, and a prison safety crisis is a public safety concern,” Padellaro said.

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