Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do most weeks, we have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.
Here are this week’s top stories:
- COLA is needed for state retirees by Debbie Hogue-Downing: a retired public school teacher in Oklahoma writes about the need for a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for retired public employees. She writes, “As a widow, I rely heavily on my retirement income; a COLA would help me live a dignified retirement.” Fortunately for retirees like Hogue-Downing, the Oklahoma House of Representatives is voting on expected to pass a bill approving a COLA as early as next week.
- Kelly signs $115 million state employee pension bill, but says more needs to be done by Lara Korte: Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signed Senate Bill 9 today. SB9 authorizes a one-time payment of $115 million into the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System (KPERS). Former Governor Sam Brownback routinely shorted payments to KPERS. SB9 is a first step to make up for payments, plus interest, missed during the Brownback administration.
- What does the California Supreme Court pension ruling mean for you? By Wes Venteicher: as we wrote about earlier this week, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling in a major pension rights case on Monday. While the court did allow for a minor adjustment to pension benefits, they importantly upheld the California Rule, which protects “core pension rights.”
- N.J. governor pushes for higher contribution to state pension fund by Robert Steyer: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is advocating for the state legislature to increase the amount it is contributing to the New Jersey Pension Fund. Currently, the legislature plans to contribute 60 percent of the actuarially determined contribution (ADC). Gov. Murphy is pushing the legislature to contribute 70 percent of the ADC this year and continue to increase contributions by 10 percent each year until the state is contributing 100 percent of the ADC.
Be sure to check back next week for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!
