PPOA Retiree Liaison
LASD retired
jschallert@ppoa.com
Recently, California changed the concealed carry law in the state to make it illegal to carry concealed weapons in many locations, even if you have a permit. PPOA has received calls and emails about this, and it appears the legal opinion is that honorably retired peace officers are still exempt from that law. It appears the intent was for those who were non-law enforcement and issued permits from local authorities, not duly sworn and trained police officers. We will keep you posted as challenges to the law work their way through the system.
The Retiree Roundup is coming up quickly, with the date set for April 7–10. It should be a great time once again, and I highly encourage you to attend. Moon Mullen puts out regular updates about the event, so watch your emails! Last year, the Cigar Night hosted by PPOA was a big hit, and we plan on doing it again, with expanded hours until 9 p.m. The entire event is a chance to connect with many folks you haven’t seen in a long time!
I was recently asked why PPOA supports some legislators over others. “What can they do for us?” The problem in California is that legislators continue to lean further to the left when it comes to crime and punishment. PPOA needs to provide support to those who are like-minded both in labor issues and law enforcement issues. We need to make sure those people keep getting elected. We can’t ask, “What will they do for us, specifically?” when it is quite clear that if more progressives get in office, it won’t be good for law and order in California.
With that said, PPOA tries to at least endorse those who are good for California and public safety. We have important political events coming up over the next several months, and we need to support those who will support public safety issues and support labor concerns.
We have several new Board members at PPOA, and I look forward to working with all of them. I know it’s an odd thing to have a union that represents different groups (sworn and professional staff), but we have been successful in balancing those issues for decades.
We are still waiting for a resolution in the Blue Cross million-dollar cap. Hopefully, 2024 will provide a resolution.
The Public Employee Pension Reform Act has released the new salary cap figures for members hired from 2013 and beyond. The cap has been raised over the past several years substantially, but it still has major issues for those at the rank of lieutenant and above who were hired on after December 31, 2012.
Hope you have a great year moving forward, and I hope to see many of you at the Retiree Roundup.