Mike Nehf responds to the Toledo Blade

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100623/OPINION03/100629913
Toledo Blade, June 23, 2010

Retirement plan must be reformed

In response to your articles about re-employed retirees, we at the State Teachers Retirement System agree that pension reform is needed and educators must work longer (“Set for life: The rising cost of public pensions,” June 21, 22, and 23).

In the past, as the Ohio legislature has made changes to the rules governing re-employed retirees, STRS Ohio has made adjustments to help ensure that re-employed retirees do not negatively affect the pension fund or the separate health-care fund. These past reforms include no longer providing primary health-care coverage to rehired retirees, and making the payout after a second retirement cost neutral to the system. Re-employed retirees and their employers also pay the same amount in contributions as do nonretirees.

More recently, our retirement board took the responsible step as system fiduciaries and adopted a plan in September, 2009, that proposes a number of changes to pension-plan design for Ohio's public educators. One of the plan's major components increases the service required for retirement to 35 years.

We look forward to our proposed pension-plan changes being included in future legislation and will continue to work with the Ohio Retirement Study Council, other legislators, and all stakeholder groups to bring about changes that will help ensure the sustainability of STRS Ohio for Ohio taxpayers who have chosen public education as their career.

Michael J. Nehf
Executive Director
State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio
Columbus