Thomas Marcello

Enclosed please find a list of Points to Consider to support the restoration of the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the group previously referenced.

I am a retired Public Administrator from the State of RI.  It is my request that you  seriously consider to restore the 3% Cost of Living Adjustment to state workers authorized by RIGL 36-10-35  who retired prior to the November 18, 2011 passage of pension legislation. 

Not to get bogged down in details, the basic premise is, upon retirement state retirees signed off their state position, in exchange, the retiree was given three options to collect retirement funds based on choosing a survivor benefit.  The promise of receiving a yearly COLA was part of the counseling activities during the retirement process, and a major factor in the choice each individual retiree made.  Documents were signed to initiate the retirement amount. 

The State might have had some justification with other retiree/employee groups to take some action, but not in the case of those who retired prior to the November 18, 2011 passage of pension legislation and were collecting retirement benefits.

Thank you for asking the time to read this E-Mail and attached document and hopefully you will consider restoring  the COLA for those retirees who were collecting benefits prior to the passage of the November 18, 2011 pension legislation. 

Submitted via email