COLA for School Retirees

Please help PASR urge State Senator Kim Ward (District 39) to support a Cost of Living Adjustment for PSERS and SERS pensioners.

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Send the following Message:

Dear [elected official],
I am writing to you today regarding a very important issue.

Throughout your tenure in the state General Assembly, you have always been known as an advocate for the people in our community. Given the scope of significant challenges you have to face as an elected leader here in Pennsylvania and the litany of tough decisions placed upon your desk every day, we appreciate and recognize the complexity of the decisions you are forced to make regularly.

It’s with this in mind that we ask that you take the same deliberate focus you apply to all decisions placed before you as the Senate President Pro Tempore and ensure that same focus is afforded to the current deliberations on the COLA for pre-Act 9 school retirees. It has been more than two decades since we have seen any adjustment to our pension benefits, while other areas have continued to see annual adjustments — including legislator salaries.

We are retired public servants. We are teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom aides, etc., and we have been left behind for years. While others in the PSERS system have benefited from pension enhancements, we have been stuck. Our pensions today are valued at a fraction of what they were 20-plus years ago. While inflation has spiked by about 80%, we have been forced to absorb the increases without any consideration. After years of regular COLAs, we are now stagnant — at best.

The cost of gas increases. The costs of bread, eggs, and milk are double — if not more — what they were since our last COLA in 2002. Our homes continue to age and require work and upgrades. And while most folks who committed their lives to their community benefit from COLA adjustments, we remain stuck. On average, we are in our 80s, and we simply want to live the remainder of our lives with dignity and stability. Given the commitments we made to our communities, we do not believe that is too much to ask.

As the state Senate President, you have an immense level of influence on new public policy decisions. Working with your colleagues in the Senate, your partners in the state House, and the Shapiro Administration to negotiate a final state budget for the coming fiscal year, we ask that you please prioritize the retired school employees in your district and throughout the state. Please support the proposed COLA that is currently being discussed at the budget table.

This measure has passed the House on more than one occasion, and the Senate has a companion bill with a payment mechanism in the form of Senate Bill 721. Both the House-approved COLA in House Bill 411 and Senate Bill 721 have been met with broad bipartisan support. All we need to see one of these proposals hit the governor’s desk is a vote in the Senate. Given your role and responsibilities, we respectfully ask that you help make this happen. If the legislation fails, then so be it. But to not give it a chance when — by all indications — support is there is immensely frustrating for my fellow retirees and me.

You have a chance to make a real difference with this year’s budget by supporting these pre-Act 9 retirees. And while we do not take this request lightly, it is imperative that we — as retirees — ask that you support the COLAs included in the aforementioned legislation.

On behalf of all the pre-Act 9 retirees, we thank you for the attention given to this matter and wish you luck as negotiations progress.

Thanks for taking action on this important issue. Your message has been delivered.