March 26th, 2021 by WCBC Radio
United We Matter is a grassroots citizens effort began a few years ago by retired Maryland state employee Ken Fitch. Fitch organized the campaign shortly after learning that the state had quietly made some significant changes to the health care benefits package. The shift in retiree health benefits was in the works for several years, but only became widely known in the spring of 2019, when thousands of retirees were mailed notices that they would need to enroll in Medicare. That stemmed from pension reform passed by the General Assembly in 2011, which lowered the state’s post-employment benefits liability by roughly $8 billion. Fitch, and United We Matter has filed a lawsuit against the state- claiming that pension benefits are a form of deferred compensation and constitute a property right, and that reducing the availability of a previously promised health benefit is unconstitutional. Appearing on the WCBCs Dave Norman Show, Fitch said despite the groups best efforts- they have been unable to get any attention from Governor Larry Hogan
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