RH Jones to STRS Board and ORTA: The COLA should NOT be taken away from those who have already retired with it

From RH Jones, January 15, 2011
Subject: Violation of rightful law

To all:

By supporting any cut in our 3% fixed COLA is in effect advocating breaking the law. Quite astoundingly, the law has already been broken with the take-away of spousal and dependant children HC/Rx insurance coverage. The government, nor the OH STRS, nor anyone else, cannot “after the fact” just decide to arbitrarily take away defined benefits that have been promised and written into law. Simply put: it's written in stone!

Although it would damage a retirement system’s ability to provide guaranteed pensions to those already retired, in the very near future a new law can be passed and signed into law to lower the COLA and HC/Rx for the public employees who are hired after the signing of that change in law; but, again, there cannot be a take-away from those who already retired under the old law. To do so would be unconstitutional.

The laws of the land, guaranteed by our U. S. Constitution, should not be taken lightly. Remembering the Nazis world of Anne Frank, “... and then they came for me.” Collectively, we cannot, and should not, let anyone get away with this.

In all due respect,

RHJones, retired OH teacher