Lynne Arcand

I am writing as a member of the State of RI pension system for advice from you about how to craft a testimony for the committee. I retired at the age of 62 under the "early retirement" incentive in 2016 after 20 years as a middle school math and science teacher in South Kingstown public schools. At that time I was within 5 years of officially retiring to receive my full pension. I had a debilitating case of lyme disease during the summer of 2015 and was chronically exhausted during the 2015-2016 school year, which led to my decision to retire early.

I took a hit by retiring early in 2 ways. My monthly pension amount was reduced significantly AND I had to agree to receiving NO Cost of Living Allowances. It would be interesting to do an in-depth analysis of the costs of goods and services and basic living costs in 2016 compared to now, in an effort to "imagine" what my monthly pension check would be now if I had been receiving annual COLA added to the income. It certainly would help this almost 70 year old with the present conditions of inflation to have COLA benefits annually from this year forward! I had heard that the State of RI has a $600 million dollar surplus?! Anyone who is receiving a pension from the State of RI should be shown the respect they deserve for their service and be given back pay for missed COLA allotments as well as future COLA annually.

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