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Folks in Madison County we are aiming for Saturday, July 11, at 2:00 PM at the Huntsville Public Library for our first meeting. Please make every effort to come and let anyone else you know who might have a PACT know about it. We'd love to signup some new faces. We are happy to report that we have 3 more new members for a total of 21. If they bring spouses that would be 42!
Know what www.savealabamapact.com needs? For those people that don't use a computer, an 800 toll free number would be excellent to add to the "yard signs". Of course, cost would be a factor.
I am still trying to reach "PATRIOT" who posted several times on this site and expressed the desire to lead in organizing Huntsville. Tenrocdoc would you please give this person my email address: dhpeacher@gmail.com
I would love for her/him to come to our first meeting of the Madison County Group on July 11.
Sorry we missed the last meeting. We are just getting to know how to communicate. Please give us the date for next meeting. We have seven pacts and are ready to work.
Please let us know.
Regards,
Joe Dill
Thanks Joe. We need everyone's help to keep our message going in Montgomery.
For those who can't access the Madison County Group, here is the latest post:
"I'm happy to report that we have come up with another idea to reach people. It's not out there yet but after our meeting (at the Huntsville Library on 7/11 at 2:00 pm) it should be. We have developed an "announcement" about PACT and have put it on business card stock. We have quite a lot of this stock and willl prepare it with the PACT notices and will distribute them to all the members at our meeting for distribution to employer community bulletin boards, churches, individuals, etc. It will invite people of Madison County to go to www.savealabamapact.com and sign up. It will also give them my email or phone number to get in touch with the Madison County Group (dhpeacher@gmail.com or 256-852-7817). Some of our folks are already sending them on email to city groups and church emails. I believe this method will get wide circulation. If on an employer bulletin board, there's the possibility that several hundred people in that one place can view them and contact us."
I (Raymond J. Dill) have some confusion about registering. I followed the instructions about choosing a password, but I can't find how to enter it when returning to the home page.
Am I already registered?
Regards,
Joe Dill
Joe,
YES you are!...welcome aboard
I received the following message from Jeremy Paul Sherer, who may be running for State Treasurer. It was in response to my message to him expressing general disgust with the State of Alabama.
"Your first three sentences sum up 70% of my announcement write-up that I'm presently working on. I think many Alabamians have lost trust (what little they might have had) in the Treasurer's office, PACT, and the government. Even after PACT is "fixed" a serious sales job will need to be done to earn that trust back so families will be willing to invest in PACT. I assure you, my being the sole breadwinner for my wife and two young children that I already diligently manage our meager finances and 401(k) savings better than has been done with PACT. Promises from elected officials if worth a nickel could purchase the world 1000 times over, but I'm hoping that by my children having PACT plans if I get elected might make voters understand how serious of a priority I place on the success of PACT. Both Davis and I believe that investments in PACT should be secured, so that during rough economic times like these, families won't have to pay further on a bill they believed had already been settled. There will be much debate on how exactly to secure those investments, but I assure you that I, along with Congressman Davis, intend to accomplish the goal of securing PACT investments, however possible.
I hope to talk with you further re: PACT and anything else that I might could help with.
Last edited by dhpeacher (06-23-2009 6:28:14 pm)
As of today, we have 27 members in Madison County, not counting spouses...Slowly, but surely...
We are trying to get prepared for our July 11 meeting. In case anyone wants to they can use the following "sample letter"(contained in our "handouts") for writing their congressmen, etc.
<Insert Representative or
Senator Name &
Mailing Address Here>
Re: Alabama PACT Program
Dear (insert name)
A solution to the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) problem is very much needed. We need your assistance, as our elected (insert senator or representative) in obtaining funding to support the PACT program, not only to fulfill our faith and trust in our state legislature, but also in the State of Alabama. The very image of our state is on the line. Remember, working-age residents with college degrees are almost 60% more likely to participate in the workforce than those with less than a high school diploma. And, their earnings over a lifetime are twice as much - a substantial personal benefit, as well as a benefit to the state with respect to more taxable resources, fewer health problems, lower rates of crime, and greater levels of civic interaction and pride.
Your efforts to correct the current standing of the PACT program will be very much appreciated and remembered by the voters of Alabama. Honoring the PACT contracts is good not only for the individual contract purchasers and beneficiaries, but it certainly would go a long way in restoring our faith in our state government.
Sincerely,
xxxxx
The following is a new posting on the State's PACT site at http://www.treasury.alabama.gov/pact/:
PACT Program Account Info as of June 2009
Total Accounts since inception – 76,251
Active Accounts –48,549
Eligible to use Benefits – 19,598
Benefits paid since inception – 428,227,424
Benefits paid in FY08 – $58,582,000
Accounts Cancelled March -June– 1,627
Value of Cancelled Accounts - $20,449,976
May 22, 2009 - Many PACT purchasers have inquired about options for their PACT investment...for more information click here PACT Program Account Info as of June 2009
Last edited by dhpeacher (08-12-2009 9:13:17 pm)
I like to think the best of people, but I think now too that we must bear in mind that we are swimming with the sharks.
It may be true that Kay didn't have to send out the Feb letter but felt a "moral obligation to do so." But remember that this is the same woman who a month previously had urged the parents and grandparents of Andalusia to purchase PACTS, telling them that their very own Ricky Jones (who failed to make the March meeting) was vice-president of the board!
Did she feel a moral obligation to do that too?!! The old actions speak louder...
No, the cynic in me thinks she sent the letter because she was getting ready to run for governor and knew that as soon as she did she would come under a lot of scrutiny and the state of the fund would be discovered. Her hope, I think, was that she could have announced the problem, the Legislature would have solved it for her, and she would announce her candidacy as the hero who saved the PACT. But she left it too long. She should have sent the letter in December so that the Legislature would have had the whole session to work on it. But all that is of course just my imagination at work.
But that she says she was under no obligation to inform PACT owners of state of fund is I think very revealing because it demonstrates again that it is NOT a 529 investment plan. Surely if it were a risky business she'd be obligated to issue annual reports, right? Something to look into...
Sent the following out to our Madison County group:
We now officially have 99 members in Madison County- not including spouses! We are being contacted regularly by individuals wanting to join our cause. Please be contacting everyone you know. We need a thousand, not a hundred! We are going to need all the help we can get! I wish the board meeting on the 19th wasn't during the school week and we would be able to bring the kids and grandkids! Ted and I have bought our T-shirts and yard signs and I'm gonna wear my T-shirt even if I have to put it on after I get to Montgomery! Come on folks, try your best to get there. We need numbers! Of course, we understand that it's impossible for some people to miss work. If you can't come, just think good thoughts for us. IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN!
Slowly but surely...we in Madison County are now up to 146! Come on folks...join us. Contact dhpeacher@gmail.com or call 256-852-7817 if you're in Madison County.
I wrote to the editor of the Montgomery Adveriser today-they have been good about posting thins I write to the editor. I have pasted it below. Please write "letters to the editors" of your newspapers.
If you have a PACT college contract for your child or grandchild you need to be aware that to ensure that the legislature infuses money from somewhere into the program to meet it's guaranteed obligations they must hear from you. Please join the group Save Alabama PACT and get involved as a united voice of contract holders to contact our legislators. We need every PACT contract holder to become involved. Please see the web site www.savealabamapact.com to join the group and get more information. Please do not sit back and think someone else will take care of this or that this is not a real problem. Exercise the democratic process and get involved around the state.
Last edited by bamall (08-20-2009 9:44:22 pm)
In response to our "Call out for Assistance", we received the following email from one of our Madison County families:
"Thanks Donna, I’m on it! We should all make the point to our legislators that the program is titled “PACT” by the state, and that word is not just a catchy acronym, it has a significant meaning and connotation. Tell your representative to look it up in the dictionary. The “P” in PACT is “PREPAID” in the contract I have, not “MAYBE, IF OUR INVESTMENTS WORK OUT”, and if that’s not what they meant, it’s too late to make excuses about it. It borders on fraudulent misrepresentation if the state fails to honor its commitment, one they clearly imply in all the brochures and contracts, and the fact that the state is backing this adds to the implication that it is indeed prepaid. A mutual fund or other commercial investment provides a standard and mandated risk disclaimer to notify potential investors they are indeed accepting a risk. There is no such disclaimer in my PACT contract. The only thing it contains is one short paragraph about termination, nothing else. Our representatives would be quick to jump in with dignified outrage and help us resolve this were it a private investment firm attempting to do this to us, full disclosure and all you know! Our point should be we have been misled, maybe not purposely or with malice, but misled nonetheless, and we should be angry about it, and let them know in no uncertain terms. Feel free to pass this along!"
I found this very interesting comment in the AANOW.com (Opelike & Auburn) website after the PACT meeting:
Posted by ( Voting Taxpayer ) on September 18, 2009 at 8:54 am
Our politicians still don’t get it. I sacrificed and paid for the FULL PACT not a compromise. I don’t care where the money comes from. Were not talking about the ususal political campain lies here. Because I paid $48,000, to the State of Alabama, I expect to get what I paid for just like today, I have to go and get my car tages and when I hand over my $$, I expect to get my tags. Whatever happened to the rainy day oil and gas fund? It sure is raining now.
Mr. Little and Mr. Hubbard, don’t tell me not to panic. If I had your wealth, I wouldn’t panic either. I choose to invest in my childrens future with the State of Alabama instead of my retirement, a larger home for all of us, going to Disney etc. We live differently to pay for PACT and now we are being told it we will only get part of what we sacrificed for or possibly none at all, and you say remain calm?
Though I detest lawsuits, I think you should know I have cousin Jerry on speed dial. My oldest is in the 10th grade so the clock is ticking and my mental anguish is getting more expensive by the day. Go ahead, laugh. I am not kidding. No compromise or delay or it’s class action.
I currently have 2 paid PACT accounts and one that is 1/2 way completed. It worries me to continue to pay into this program without any clear solutions. I have read all the posts and did not find any that addresses the matter of having a contract not yet paid in full. Please give opinions whether to stick this out or pull this last remaining contract out while there is still time to save for his education.
We bought 5 contracts, two of which are paid up. We have 3 that we will be paying on for several years. We have currently $55,000 in PACT. We consider them legal contracts, nothing more- nothing less. If we cancel we have to pay around $400.00 in cancellation fees (as stated by someone who did) for EACH contract. This far outweighs the 1% interest they will pay for withdrawals. We feel we have nothing to lose by continuing to pay into the contracts and maybe at least one of our grandchildren (beginning next year) will be able to go to college. If the Board keeps continuing as in the past, maybe 2 of our grandchildren will make it through college. They have stated that there is enough money in the fund to pay up to 2015. If we can get even 2 through college, we will have made our investment back. Of course, we will fight for the other 3 tooth and nail. If all else fails, we will sue the hell out of the State of Alabama and everyone who was involved in this fiasco. We assume the cut-off date of 2015 will be pushed out if everyone continues to pay into the PACT.
MOMX3, you asked for opinions and this is mine and my husband's. This if very much our personal opinion only.
It's the waiting and not knowing that is bothersome to the PACT owners. We don't really care where the money will come from, just that the guarantees will be honored. I've asked earlier why the legislature had tangled the 2 issues. They can easily propose changing the law to guarantee funding. This would buy them as much time as they need to figure out the funding, and would take the pressure from us off of their backs.
We could force their hands. We could file a motion w/ the courts to freeze PACT assets until they figured it out, or at least until they put the guarantee into law. It's really not fair that current contracts are honored 100% if there's a chance that future contracts will get anything less. No one wants anyone to get less than 100%, but a swift kick in the rear through such an action may be what is needed.
That's my $0.02 for the day.
Just want to say thanks to whoever keeps the news items up to date...you're doing a great job! It's encouraging to see we're not alone and other states have similar problems - and how they're addressing them.
Thank you Jeff & Alice! I appreciate the "great job" comment!
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