In an historic move that could result in a crisis for older Oklahomans, the legislature blocked a modest four percent cost-of -living adjustment (COLA) for state retirees, firefighters, teachers and widows. Senator Cliff Aldridge and Representative Lisa Billy had proposed the increase in pension benefits in SB 1637.
OPEA working with the Oklahoma Retired Firefighters Association Oklahoma Troopers Association and the Oklahoma Retired Educators Association strongly supported the measure urging the Senate and House to adopt the measure. The assumptions of the Public Employees Retirement System has a two percent per year pension increase already built in, so granting the COLA would not have reduced the current actuarial value and had no impact on the state budget.
Representative Billy and Senator Aldridge issued a press release urging legislative leaders to allow the COLA Bill to move forward.
“In every community in Oklahoma, we have retired police, firefighters, teachers and other former state employees who depend on these COLA’s to make ends meet,” said Aldridge. “This isn’t because of the budget.”
“I’m getting calls from retirees who cannot understand what’s happening,” said Billy. “They paid into the system. This is their money, so they don’t understand why it is being blocked.”
This is the first time in recent memory that leadership has blocked a COLA that was within the assumptions of the systems in an election year.
"This decision says the state of Oklahoma does not value its retirees – that's a bad message for both retirees and state employees," said OPEA’s Executive Director Sterling Zearley. "Older Oklahomans are among the hardest hit by the economic downturn, and while two percent per year doesn't seem like much, for some retirees, it's the difference between filling a grocery cart and a prescription."
A nationwide AARP survey found 55 percent of older Americans already have difficulty paying for the basics such as food and medicine, while 44 percent said they had trouble affording their utility bills.
"The loss of a COLA will mean more Oklahoma retirees are forced to struggle in their golden years,” concluded Zearley. “We're calling on Oklahoma to take a stand and do what's right for people who gave so much to the state. It is time to take this decision out of the hands of politicians and let the retirement system grant the COLA’s that are in their assumptions.”
Posted on
Thu, June 3, 2010
by Trish Frazier