I have been struggling to support my wife and son since my 3% annual COLA was taken away from me and my family. My wife has been battling severe arthritis in her feet, knees, hips, back, and hands since 2011 and has been wheel chair dependent since 2012. In the winter we have had to keep the heat at 64 degrees to save on heat. On her sixth birthday 2015 she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and had to under go radical chemotherapy and radiation. She had to stay on chemo maintenance treatments every week.

This is my story about COLAs, suspended for over 12 years, and how it affected me.

I retired from the Department of Labor & Training in June 2008 after 32 years of service, with the

promise of a yearly cost-of-living adjustment starting after the third year of retirement.I received just one COLA In 2011. Then, COLAs were suspended. When I retired, based on the calculations, I opted for the middle amount of pension earnings so that my wife could receive half in case something happened to me.

"Pension Reform" was an ex-post-facto shafting of already-retired public employees. In my case, I retired a year short of 35 in order to ensure that I qualified for the 3% COLA, since I worked for Human Resources and anticipated that changed were coming. I did NOT anticipate that a benefit could be taken away from an already-retired person receiving an EARNED (and paid for) benefit that was part of a condition of employment retirement plan. Consequently, I took a home equity loan to make improvements to my home and property in preparation for my retirement years.

How WEP, loss of COLA and the SS offset affected this retiree



I taught English and journalism in Cranston, RI secondary schools, for 30 years, retiring at 51, at a salary of $43,000. I’d been widowed at 43 (2nd marriage) and because my husband and I were married only 8 years (instead of required 10), I could not collect any of his Social Sec benefits.



But because I was raising two children as sole breadwinner, I took on many other jobs—waitressing, tutoring, census taker…poll worker… besides teaching.

When this so called pension reform happened, I had to return to work, working two part time jobs. I had decided to retire at 30 years, planning my future on my pension. I was forced into taking my social security at 62 instead of waiting where I would have been able to collect more money in my social security. Pension reform DEFINITELY changed my future. Obviously I don't need to add this, but look how much the prices of everything have risen over the years, especially the past few years, and not at the normal rate of inflation. I do realize that every year prices do rise.

Regarding the 3 percent COLA all RI State Employee Retirees had before 2011, when the "Retirement Security Act" was passed.



When I retired from State Service in 2005, we were ASSURED that the 3 percent COLA would be guaranteed to us, regardless of changes that would be proposed further down the road.

Hi, my name is Kevin Cash. I am a public school teacher within the Burrillville School District. I am currently in my 32nd year of employment with Burrillville. I am taking what is probably my third opportunity to present my thoughts regarding the pension changes of 2011 and our current retirement scenario. Back in the day, myself and several others in Burrillville, testified at a Committee hearing as to the wrongs of these proposed changes.

Dear Treasurer Diossa,



I am reaching out in the hopes of receiving the return of a COLA as soon as possible. I have been flatlined for over a decade now. Also, I have been a widow for 8 years and as you can see, I do not have the luxury of his income or Social Security.

Retirees perspective:

This letter is about the effects of the change to the Rhode Island pension system that occurred in 2011.

I retired from teaching in 2016. At that time, I was using money from the sale of my home to supplement my reduced pension. Now that I am using money from my IRA, it is dwindling quickly, as I have to deduct 15% for my taxes. i.e. If I need $10,000, I need to withdraw $11,500 from my account. Inflation has been eating into my monthly check and it is only a matter of time, before I will deplete my IRA. Did I mention, I receive 1/2 of my social security check because of the Windfall Tax. I implore you to do what is right and reinstate the pension, we were promised.