After spending three terms in the House, Chandler was elected to the Senate in 2000. During her tenure in the House, Chandler earned high marks as chairman of the Committee on Health Care.

Chandler replaced Senator Brian Joyce (D-Milton), who was elevated to the post of assistant vice-chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Joyce had served as Public Service Chairman since January of 1999.

Over the past three years, Joyce has played a prominent role in all Association sponsored initiatives. He had been a driving force behind the 1999 law that allows for the 3% COLA to be paid.

"Brian Joyce worked very hard on behalf of our members during his tenure on Public Service. I'm sure he will remain a close friend of retirees in his new position," said Association President Ralph White. "While Brian will be missed, we are looking forward to working closely with Harriette Chandler. She has a reputation for quickly learning an issue... something that will serve her well in the often complicated world of public pension law."

As Senator Chandler begins her tenure on Public Service, the Committee is at the epicenter of several monumental issues. Of significant importance to retirees is the proposal, made by the Acting Governor, to reduce the state's pension appropriation.

In light of the ongoing recession, the Committee is in the process of formulating a local early retirement (ERI) proposal. This is in addition to addressing legislation, recently filed by the Governor that would expand the earlier passed state ERI.

"There are several pressing issues currently before the Committee that will have to be immediately addressed. This does not leave much of a 'honeymoon' period to become comfortable with the issues," comments Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "Senator Chandler and her staff understand the situation and have already begun meeting with the various groups effected by these issues. They have really hit the ground running."

Since each Senator maintains their own staff, the Senate Public Service staff have moved on to Ways and Means with Joyce. Chandler has assigned two staffers, Legislative Aide Kerrie Carnes and General Counsel Dave Murphy, to spearhead the Public Service workload. They will be overseen by Chief of Staff Rita Turo. Tim Daley is the Senator's press secretary.

"In the past we have always maintained a very close relationship with the Public Service staff. These are the folks who will be researching the issues and working on the subject matter day in and day out," explained Duhamel. "Our legislative team has always made itself available to help the Committee whenever called upon."