Dean Dennis to STRS Board: Who are our lobbyists lobbying for?

Dean Dennis' speech to STRS Board

May 16, 2019

My name is Dean Dennis. I paid 35 years into the STRS Defined Benefit Plan. I'm the STRS Chair for Cincinnati's Local 1520-Retirees and spokesperson for the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum on Facebook. 

I paid into the Defined Benefit Plan for 35 years because I had no choice. Ohio is a non-Social Security state and the Defined Contribution Plan wasn't available until after I was vested. Our pension is supposed to be much better that Social Security so isn't it baffling that our pension plan which receives more than double the percent in contributions compared to Social Security, can't provide a COLA, while Social Security can provide a compounded one? 

Ohio is only one of a handful of Non-Social Security States. Our active teachers pay 14% of their salary in employee contributions to STRS. In Social Security states, the rate is 6.2%.  

So let's compare Ohio's Employer Contribution rate to the other Non-Social Security States: Rhode Island employers pay 26.28%, Louisiana 26%, Connecticut 23.65%, Alaska 22%, Colorado 20.4%, Maine 18.49%, CA 16.28%, Texas 15%, Missouri 14.5%, Nevada is tied with Ohio at 14% only Massachusetts employers pay less. It's clear, Ohio's active teachers contribute more than their fair share, while Ohio's employers contributions seriously lag. Interestingly, the Ohio employer contribution rate for Police is 19.5%. The Ohio employer rate for Fire is 24%; imagine, Ohio employer's contribute a full 10% less to their teachers. 

So why have we been at 14% for 35 years, without an increase? That's a great question for our seven elected union peers serving on our Board and our four appointed Board members.  

ORC 3307.14, states that if there is a shortfall in the pension transfer fund (think no COLA), then the shortfall "shall be paid by an additional employer rate of contribution." This shortfall only has to be acknowledged by the Board's actuary and presented to the Ohio Retirement Study Committee (ORSC) comprised of legislators. The problem is that nearly 40 years ago, ORC 3307.28 capped the Employer Contribution at 14%. So, what has STRS been doing for the last 3 decades? They meet monthly with the ORSC and must submit an annual report. This is especially troubling when you consider that our contributions help pay for 6 STRS lobbyist. Who are our lobbyist lobbying for? It doesn't seem to be for us.  

Imagine if for the last 30 years our Employer Contribution Rate had been 2-4% higher? We'd have a COLA and our teachers wouldn't be retiring over the age of 60. In conclusion, why is the Ohio's employer contribution rate frozen in time at 14%, while the employer contribution rate in the other non-Social Security States averages 22.5%? Someone isn't doing their job, and it is not us. Thank you. 

[Link to lobbyists, added by KB: https://www2.jlec-olig.state.oh.us/OLAC/Reports/ViewEmployer.aspx?id=672]