Legislative Advocacy
LEGISLATIVE REPORT – LINDA WOODS
Legislative News – Linda Woods
As your legislative chairperson for MOCORTA, I will be sending you the e-mailed legislative updates that I receive from IRTA this winter. It is important that we all keep an eye on what our legislature is doing (or not doing, as the case might be) for us as retired teachers.
There has been a tradition back to the early 1950’s of awarding a small (1 or 2 percent usually) cost of living increase to our monthly pension checks. When you retired, your financial planner most likely considered that your pension would have these small increases and took that into account when he/she calculated how long your money would last in retirement. Our legislature, primarily the Senate, has apparently decided not to grant COLA’s anymore because it adds to the unfunded liability of the pre-1996 Teacher Retirement Fund. Ironically, they don’t seem to be concerned enough about this to add to the pension stabilization fund either.
The last COLA passed in 2008. As a result of no COLAs, our purchasing power has declined by 18 percent since then. You might not be feeling a pinch now, but think about what this might mean if you live to be 90-something. You could be in the same situation as those 14,000 retired teachers who get $650 a month now.
It is important that our legislators hear from us. One letter from me can easily be ignored. But they have to pay attention if they receive a flood of letters. When the legislative alerts are sent this winter, please take a few moments to take action.
Linda Woods
MOCORTA Legislative Chairperson
To find your legislators, go to “Indiana General Assembly Home” (www.in.gov/legislative) At the bottom of the screen, click on the tab “Find Your Legislator” and put in your address.
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