ORTA Executive Director Dr. Robin Rayfield addresses the STRS Board at their April Board meeting

I was unable to attend the April Board meeting myself, but was very interested in Dr. Rayfield's timely remarks that day. Here is what he shared in the ORTA May 2018 newsletter last week: 

"I was able to speak at the April 19, 2018 STRS Board of Trustees meeting. My comments included a reminder that COLA remains the hottest topic on the minds of STRS recipients.

Rather than repeating a request for a return to COLA, my request was having STRS ‘lay out a pathway for benefit enhancement’. So many people have asked the STRS Board of Trustees to ‘give us back our COLA’ that its appears the request falls on deaf ears. What I

have requested is that the STRS folks offer a list of conditions that must take place prior to beneficiaries receiving more in their monthly checks. The STRS employees are adept at

describing our current financial conditions and they monitor our financial position carefully. What ORTA would like to know is what metrics or measurements are being used to determine when the members of STRS can expect to see an increase. I did receive a call from Executive Director Nehf the following week and a commitment from him to work on developing such a pathway or road map to benefit enhancement. I am excited about the willingness by STRS Executives to help the STRS beneficiaries with understanding the complex nature of pension systems and potential increases in our monthly checks. At the same meeting about 65 STRS beneficiaries from Northeast Ohio attended. Two of their group spoke about the need to return to COLA, especially for the most vulnerable of our group. One comment that struck a resounding chord was that it is unacceptable for STRS to consider pay increases for STRS employees if the STRS recipients are ‘frozen’ on their monthly checks. I tend to agree."