I retired in June after 37 yrs in public education. When I started teaching, I worked in Massachusetts. In 1987 I accepted a job in RI. We were told we had free insurance and a great retirement. Much better than Mass. If I worked 28-35 years, I could retire and get a pension of up to 80%. The deal was , 10% of our salary would be taken for the State defined benefit retirement program instead of Social Security and we would have a comfortable retirement at a young age with lifetime insurance. No one ever came to us peddling annuities because they were not needed.

I am recently retired. I really feel for those who retired 15 - 20 years ago and have had minimal COLA increases. Constantly losing purchasing power. Having been hired in 2000, the group I'm in really got screwed in the maximum percent of last years wages that would be paid when we retired. I took a job in 2000 with the pension being a strong consideration. So when 11 years in, at age 56, the rug was pulled out from me. It's a little late at that point to change careers.

I am a retired Guidance Counselor from the Narragansett School System. For the last 24 years, I have lived in Sarasota, FL. I was living the relaxed life of a typical retiree. Sometime after my COLA was suspended, I found it hard to keep up with all the increased costs of a house, healthcare, and just general living. To handle things, I found a housemate who helped me for a few years. Then I started to work as a substitute teacher in the Sarasota County School System( for 5 years) and last year I also started work for the Take Care Home Health Agency.

Dear Members of this CRITICAL Working Group,

Here is my story:

Graduate of William M. Davies Vocational Technical High School, 1980

Veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Honorably Discharged due to a significant medical injury.

Began Rhode Island College Fall of 1982.

Graduated RIC May 1987, Double Major: Elementary AND Special Education, Minor: Psychology

Married August 1, 1987

Began teaching in Central Falls September 1987

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CORRECT AN INJUSTMENT THAT HAS HURT THE LIVES OF PEOPLE WHO WORKED HONORABLE FOR AT LEAST 28 YEARS. I HAVE BEEN RETIRED FOR 15 YEARS. I AM LIVING ON AND MAKING PURCHASES WITH MONEY THAT IS 15 YEARS OLD. IT'S HARD TO KEEP UP BUYING FOOD, MEDICINE, AND PAYING MY BILLS, THE SAME BILLS EVERYONE HAS. WHEN I RETIRED, I MADE A DECISION WITH MY WIFE BASED ON THE NUMBERS THAT I GOT FROM THE RETIREMENT BOARD WHICH INCLUDED A 3 PERCENT COLA ADJUSTMENT. AT THE TIME THE NUMBERS WORKED SO I RETIRED. NOW, I CANT AFFORD TO BE RETIRED. I WISH I COULD GO BACK TO WORK.

Any state surplus funding could have gone into the state retirement coffers under the auspice of the state treasurer. Seth Magaziner never submitted any surplus moneys to these coffers. Our pension coffer was rifled by Bruce Sunlund, not payed into by cities and towns and was basically mismanaged by the then powers that be and yet we the recipients of our promised funding, are the ones to suffer the consequences of this dereliction of others.

Why a lawsuit was never filed for marked negligence is beyond me.

Testimony before the Pension Advisory Working Group, 14 Dec 2023 CCRI Hackett Auditorium:

Subject: 2011 State Pension Law

I had previously belonged to AFSCME/Retirees, and fled that group in search of real representation. The retiree agenda was clearly dominated by union oversight.

At last night's (Dec. 14) PAWG meeting, Robert Jacquard purported to represent AFSCME retirees. His testimony made me wonder if he is actually paid by the ASCME/Council 94 union, and is assigned to the retiree group. (This should be clarified.) His testimony came under the watchful eye of Council 94 President Downey and Business Manager Cenerini, seated in the upper gallery.

I retired in June, 2016, at age 66, after working for the state for 31 years. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics figures indicate that for each $1.00 in pension payments I received at that time, I would need $1.27 today, just to break even with the increased costs of living. Obviously, for those who retired earlier, the numbers are even more dramatic.

Former rep. Jacquard's proposal for a 3% COLA on the first $30,000, while modest, is certainly a step in the right direction to address this problem.