Madame chair and members of the subcommittee, thank you for giving me the time to speak on this bill. Creating a benefits consortium will allow localities to reduce their benefits premium costs by partnering with other localities to share the costs spread amongst a larger group of beneficiaries not just in the locality they work in but neighboring localities. I would not be opposed if an amendment was brought forth to allow all localities to join the state in a single benefits consortium, thus spreading the costs out further to reduce the monthly premiums. For instance, In the City of Poquoson, the school board has recently discovered our monthly medical premiums will potentially increase by 12%. We are planning to give a minimum 5% bonus for all school employees this coming fiscal year. This increase in benefits will overshadow this fiscal year bonus. For our teachers that have a thankless job of molding our next future in the Commonwealth, I respectfully ask each delegate to please vote aye on reporting this bill.

Please consider this bill as it should help to spread the cost and reduce the amount that our educators have to pay for these benefits, which allows them to have higher pay. They deserve the best salary possible for their hard work and dedication to our future generations.