Dan MacDonald to STRS board: Will the proposed budget address the needs of retirees or STRS staff? Let us not forget the salary study and pay increases received across the spectrum with the Board voting to enhance in some areas where no raises were recommended.

From Dan MacDonald

February 20, 2026

WILL BUDGET ADDRESS ACTIVES/RETIREES NEEDS?

Mr. Chair and members of the Board, good afternoon. I am Dan MacDonald, an STRS retiree with 38 plus years of service and Executive Director of Local 279R, Northeast Ohio AFT retirees.  Happy belated Valentine’s Day.

A Cleveland political reporter, Morgan Trau, reported that our current STRS Board Chair plus the former Governor DeWine’s appointed Board member, will not face criminal charges related to alleged ethics violation after the state referred the case to the Columbus City’s Attorney’s Office. Through a records request, the city’s attorney office decided not to press charges saying there is not enough evidence to prove that the men knowingly broke the law by accepting money from the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association (ORTA) legal defense fund. Congrats, chair. [Clap]

Why is this important?  Well, Attorney General Yost has accused them of corruption, and in my estimation, is trying to bankrupt them. Let’s also not forget that an initially anonymous whistleblower document claimed that QED and ORTA worked together in elections, a document emanating from STRS. I have another document emanating from STRS, not anonymous, titled STRS Ohio Retirement Benefits, 58 pages long. This was given to me by STRS Benefit staff when plotting my retirement and recently rediscovered while doing estate planning. Page 1 states, Quote “Let your workbook series help you plan now for an active, happy and secure [my emphasis] retirement later.” Unquote. Page 38 states, Quote “A cost of living increase, up to 3%, is automatically granted each year. The increase is based on the preceding calendar year’s Consumer Price Index and the number of points in the benefit recipient’s cost of living account. A benefit recipient establishes a reserve account the first year on which the increase in the proceeding calendar year’s CPI is more than 3 %.  Points above 3% are put into the reserve to be used in future years.” Unquote.

My point?  The 2026-27-year budget will soon be presented. Will the proposed budget address the needs of retirees or STRS staff? Let us not forget the salary study and pay increases received across the spectrum with the Board voting to enhance in some areas where no raises were recommended.

As always, the needs of actives and retirees clamor to be addressed, the reason for STRS’s existence.