PAX Centurion - April / June 2016

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • April-May-June 2016 • Page 31 • Dylan Sodaro (Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-NJ). Mr. Sodaro worked closely with NAPO to address our issues with the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program through the drafting and recent introduction of the HERO Benefits ReformAct. Further, as staff for the Law Enforcement Caucus, he works day in and day out to make certain state and local law enforcement get the resources and funding they need to keep officers and the communities they serve safe. 4 • Michelle Greenhalgh (Rep. Joe Courtney, D-CT). Ms. Greenhalgh has been leading the charge to repeal the excise tax – or “Cadillac tax” – on employer-sponsored health plans. This tax was part of the “Obamacare” law and imposes a forty percent excise tax on employee health benefits above a certain level. Her incredible efforts to ensure repeal the “Cadillac Tax”, including her work on the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2015, were instrumental in our obtaining a two-year delay on the tax at the end of last year. 5 • Josh Lipman (Rep. Ted Deutch, D-FL). Mr. Lipman tirelessly worked with NAPO to draft and introduce legislation (H.R. 4176) that would amend the Drivers Privacy ProtectionAct (DPPA) to ensure that state and local law enforcement officers are protected from civil damages for accessing certain personal information from State DMV records. He made sure NAPO’s concerns with the DPPA were address and the bill that Congressman Deutch introduced would permit an officer to access the information without being penalized, unless the information was disclosed publicly, which is a win for law enforcement. 6 Thank you all for your continued hard work on the behalf of the law enforcement community! On the local front O n Beacon Hill, Governor Charlie Baker signed into law the bill titled “AnAct relative substance use, treatment, education and prevention.” It passed with unanimous votes in both legislatives branches; it includes prevention education for students and doctors, and a seven day limit on first time opioid prescriptions. Governor Baker also signed into law the new Public Records bill. This new law requires state agencies and municipalities to respond to records requests within 10 days; an agency can be granted a 20-day extension and municipalities a 30-day extension. It also limits how much an agency can charge for producing the records. Agencies can charge for staff time involved in retrieving records, but at rates of no more than $25 per hour and no charge for the first four hours. As the legislative session draws closer to its end, and the election season begins to take shape, we will be watching for any last minute movement on issues directly affecting law enforcement and the way we protect the citizens of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth. Please be safe and spend as much quality time with your families as possible! Life Insurance Tax-Free Retirement Wealth Building Estate Planning Inheritance Strategy New Business Foundations Investments College Funding Maximizing Social Security Strategies ... and more! “I wish somebody had shown me all this before, this is incredible!” “I never knew this could be done. You should teach a class at the Academy!” FREE PERSONALIZED FINANCIAL PLANNING KEVIN J. PISHKIN Former Police Officer in Boston Retired On Injury Financial Consultant New York Life Boston General Office 781-223-3791 “The job is hard enough as it is, let’s make sure you retire wealthy!” 100 Everendon Road Canton, MA 781-828-4444 www.BrookmeadowGolf.com $5.00 OFF for ALL EMS and BPD Monday thru Friday Expires December 2016