James Dwyer

Honorable James Diossa, State Treasurer

And the Pension Advisory working Group

State House, Room 102

Providence, RI 02903

Having retired in 2009, after 33 years of teaching, I am not receiving the compounded COLA as promised when I started my career. The Pension Reform Act of 2011 in RI changed that. Since the age of 16, I have worked numerous jobs, including working second jobs during my 33 year teaching career. These jobs totaled over 50 years of paying into the social security system. However, the district of East Providence, of which I spent my whole career in was one of the communities that decided not to pay into social security. This decision was made long before I started my career with them in 1976. I was assured that as long as I earned my 40 quarters with my other jobs, I would be able to collect my fully deserved SSA. This was all changed with the enactment of the Windfall Elimination Provision(WEP) and Govenment Pension Offset (GPO) acts. So at this point, my SSA benefits are cut by approximately 65% and without a COLA since 2011, it is impossible to keep up with the cost of living and today’s inflation rates. I am urging you to reinstate of the contracted COLAs that we rightfully deserve.

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