RH Jones to Representative Brian Williams re: 13th check and educators staying and spending in Ohio

From RH Jones, December 18, 2009
Subject: Re: 13th ck. & educators staying & spending in Ohio

Friday, 18 Dec 2009

Dear Representative Brian Williams and all:

After our OH STRS issuing a “Supplemental Clean-up” check (13th check) for 21-years, in the year 2000 retired educators were cut-off without it. Even now, some of us retired teachers are wondering if the STRS is conspiring to keep from paying the check as they say that the new legislation, to bring the STRS back from infinity to a goal of 34-years, still leaves us ineligible for the 13th check. As you know the Ohio Revised Code requires the goal of 30-year funding. That is just 4-years difference between having the modest “Clean-up” year-end check and not having it all.

If STRS is so against us having this modest, but fairly calculated check, may I suggest, once again, an interim solution to help retired educators and Ohio businesses? Back on the 9th of September 2007, I made this suggestion to all:

A state income tax exemption for Ohio’s retired educators will be the engine that helps educators stay, live in Ohio, and spend their checks here. Without this exemption, they are drawn to states that do exempt them. Presently, there is no financial incentive to keep them here; and, there should be. Ohio needs the business that this lost revenue generates. It is bad enough that retired educators leave the state, but it is equally bad for the state if the businesses that serve them have to leave the state as well.

No income tax for retired educators would encourage those retirees who have already left Ohio to return. This, also, will create and keep businesses and their workers here.

Legislators should know that the BEST spin-off for them would be that these individuals, their spouses, and some of their resident family stay and VOTE here. What a nice Payback for those politicians who would sponsor and vote approval of such legislation: our vote!

Since I wrote this, I have found that about 10% of retired educators leave the state after retiring. That is not much, one may think, but the fall-out from their return to Ohio would certainly boost the economy for all. Although I would not expect all to return, but I do think many would. And, any newly retired, coming on-board as a STRS retired member, would certainly have an incentive to stay put and enjoy this lovely state.

A state tax exemption for retired teachers would not cost the state lost revenue; however, it would bring in new sales tax revenue. And as the increased retired teacher spending employs more of the public, these newly employed workers would generate state taxes, rather than consuming it as the unemployed.

If legislators think that an exemption of the full-retired teacher STRS income is unacceptable, perhaps it could be just a tax cut on the amount of total state income tax percentage that goes for each year’s state budget for education. That would not be as good for us retired but it would be better than nothing.

Robert Hudson Jones, SummitCRTA Legislative CMTE member & a CORE member