In January of this year, Ellen Philbin of the State Board and Donna Mueller of the Boston Board both left for greener fields. And in March, Lussier announced that he would be heading to Washington where he will be CEO and majority owner of Gregory & Vienna Associates, a consulting and strategy-planning firm.

Members will recall that it was Lussier, who played a major role in heading off a congressional attempt to institute mandatory Social Security for public employees in Massachusetts and several other non-Social Security states. Such a law would have destroyed our Chapter 32 retirement plan.

For several years Lussier, a Pittsfield native, who earlier served as a state Representative, has been the Chairman of the National Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security. By relocating to Washington, he will be in the forefront of Social Security issues, including the never-ending threat of mandatory Social Security for public sector workers.

Also, Tom will be able to involve himself on a daily basis with legislation that our Association is seeking, which would give relief to the onerous Social Security Offset and Windfall laws that have raised havoc with many of our members.

“It will be great to have Tom in Washington, where he will be on top of these issues,” said Shawn Duhamel of our staff who makes frequent trips to Washington, where he represents Massachusetts retirees in the fight to abolish Social Security Offset and Windfall laws.

Shawn and Tom both spoke on these issues at a recent statewide gathering of public retirement officials sponsored by Gene Durgin and the Massachusetts Pension Professional Forum (MPPF). “It was a pleasure to be on the same stage as Tom Lussier,” said Duhamel.

Members of the Teachers’ Retirement Board were high in their praise for the former director.

“Tom Lussier brought the Board into the twenty-first century well before the millennium,” said Association member Jay Dow, a retired Marblehead teacher. Jay, a Teachers’ Board elected member for 30 years, is the senior member of the Board.

“When Tom took over twenty years ago he was determined to turn the board around. We had a lack of qualified personnel in key areas, the computer system had never been modernized and members of the Teachers’ Retirement System were not getting the information they needed on a timely basis. There’s no comparison between the member service we had before Tom came aboard and what we provide now. Tom has always emphasized that we’re here to serve the members and this has been a reflection of his leadership.”

“I’ve known Tom Lussier since he was elected to the House in 1977 at the age of 19. His mother (now deceased), a retired teacher, was one of our members,” said Association President Ralph White. “He sponsored many of our key bills when he was vice chairman of the Public Service Committee.

“Tom is always been an exciting guy who moves well in any environment; the transition to Washington will be right up his alley.”