James Carr: Look at the 5 public pension plans, only STRS has reneged on its promise to provide an annual COLA

From James Carr

October 13, 2022

What I am about to say is my opinion, nothing more. We need to stop viewing an annual COLA as being some type of fringe benefit or perk. An annual COLA is an integral and necessary part of any functional pension plan. Just ask S.S. recipients, or those who are members of Federal Employees pension plans. You don't need to look outside of Ohio, look at the 5 public pension plans, only STRS has reneged on its promise to provide an annual COLA.

Somehow, some way, thousands of Ohio teachers have been hoodwinked into believing that their stolen COLA was just an unnecessary add-on, a fringe benefit that can be arbitrarily taken away whenever it becomes inconvenient.

Tell that to Ohio's retired politicians who receive an annual COLA. Tell the retired firefighters, the retired state police officers, the retired school bus drivers and custodians that they really don't need their COLAs.

Think of it this way. When you buy a car, new or used, there are certain items that come with that car that you absolutely cannot do without. The amount you pay for the car, the interest rate of your loan, the length of your loan payments, the type of warranty you receive, are all variable. But you aren't going to buy a car without tires and you aren't going to drive a car without a windshield. We somehow allowed ourselves, several years ago, to accept the premise that the COLA we were promised was just an extra perk we could do without. Well, there was a damned good reason we had a COLA and there is a damned good reason the the other 4 public pensions still have theirs. Right now, with inflation running rampant, we are trying to drive a car without a windshield through a thunderstorm