Dan MacDonald to STRS Board: Actives need their benefits enhanced and retirees need their 3% COLA

Dan MacDonald's speech to STRS

October 21, 2021

Good morning.  I am Dan MacDonald, an STRS retiree who served for 38 plus years and currently Executive Director of Local 279-R, NEO AFT retirees.  

Doing some personal research and going to websites, the State Employees Retirement System of Ohio, SERS, is 71.49% funded and needs 24 years to pay off its unfunded liabilities.   Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, OP&F, needs 29 years to pay off its unfunded liabilities, right under the 30-year limit set by Ohio state law.  The Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System, HPRS, is 67.9% funded and needs 23 years to pay off its unfunded liabilities.   Ohio Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio, OPERS, which has over 100 billion in its general fund, is 82.9% funded and needs 18 years to pay off its unfunded liabilities. 

What do our four Ohio pension funds have in common?  They are paying a COLA.   OPERS has requested a change to their COLA, going from one year to two years after retirement to be paid along with a two-year freeze to all, but these changes need to be approved by our state legislators. 

Then there is our STRS.   When paying a COLA, it takes five years after retirement.  Are the other pension systems in Ohio Boards that incompetent, or do their Boards push back on consultants and staff?  We are to believe Cheiron/Callan, etc. and their actuarial numbers and “forecasts”, a new term used today. Do the other Ohio pension funds not believe their actuaries, consultants, and their projections, “forecasts”? Obviously, the other Boards interpret their fiduciary responsibilities differently to their members, and not allegiance to STRS staff and consultants.  

Actives need their benefits enhanced and retirees need their 3% COLA. 

Thank you.