Record of Testimony

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.

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

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

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.

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

I am the only member of my class I have suffered significant damage from the breaches

Submitted via online webform

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.

Dear Mr. Diossa

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.