Urgent Action Needed!

TRS COLAS Under Attack!

Posted September 29, 2008 (OCTOBER 3, 2008 - SEE UPDATE TO THIS POSTING BY CLICKING HERE)

PAGE was represented September 24th at the Teacher Retirement System Board of Trustees meeting by Jim Hayes. At the meeting Tommy Hills, representing the Governor's office, suggested a change in TRS board policy concerning Cost Of Living Annual Increases (COLA) for current and future retirees.  The present policy, which was adopted in 1969, states that the TRS “shall give” its members a 1.5% COLA in July and January of every year.  The Governor's office wants to change that policy to “may give” a 1.5% COLA in July and January. Under the proposed plan, a decision on whether to grant a COLA (and presumably how much) would be made each May.  The rationale, according to Mr. Hills, is that all the other retirement boards vote on the COLA's annually and the governor’s office thinks TRS should as well.

After much discussion a vote was taken by the seven members who were present.  Three supported the measure and three opposed it. Acting chairman Russell Hinton broke the tie by voting in favor. The proposed change must be “on the table” for 30 days before action can be taken.  The TRS does not meet in October and the next meeting will be November 19th when they will vote on the proposed change. 

We appreciate that these three educator members of the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) Board of Trustees voted against the proposal to change the policy on Cost of Living Increases: 

• Mrs. Susan T. Brantley, Teacher, Washington County Schools
• Dr. Lorelle C. "Buster" Evans, Superintendent, Forsyth County Schools
• Mrs. Lisa S. Muldrew, Teacher, Bulloch County Schools

A complete listing of the TRS Board and how they voted is below. Contact information is there as well for letters and faxes to the TRS offices.  Between now and November 19th we strongly encourage you to contact the TRS and let them know your views on changing their COLA policy. It would not hurt for you to “cc” your communication to your local legislators. They also need to know about this policy change and your views.

We have done research as to how many would be affected by such a move and how much a COLA costs.

• Total TRS Retirees as of 9/1/8 - 79,376
• Total Active TRS member accounts as of 9/1/8 - 254,918
• Total Assets as of 8/31/08 - $49,993,786,164
• Total Cost of COLA on 1/1/08 - $2,813,822.41 - This amount is the amount the monthly benefit payroll increased due to the Jan. COLA
• Total Cost of COLA on 7/1/7 - $2,661,180.50 - This amount is the amount the monthly benefit payroll increased due to the July COLA

WE ENCOURAGE PAGE MEMBERS WHO ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS ACTION TO CONTACT TRS AND MAKE THEIR VIEWS KNOWN!  A list of the TRS Board of Trustees is below. Communication to the board may be sent in care of the TRS Executive Director:

Executive Director (Click here to email the Executive Director of TRS)
Two Northside 75
Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30318

Telephone:

404-352-6500
800-352-0650
404-352-4885 (Fax)

TRS Board of Trustees, Appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue

• Dr. Virginia J. Dixon – Chair, Retired Educator (ABSENT)
• Mr. Russell W. Hinton - Vice-Chair, Auditor, State of Georgia (VOTED YES)
• Mrs. Susan T. Brantley, Teacher (VOTED NO)
• Mr. W. Daniel Ebersole, Director of Office of Treasury & Fiscal Services, State of Georgia (VOTED YES)
• Dr. Lorelle C. "Buster" Evans, Superintendent, Forsyth County Schools (VOTED NO)
• Mr. Charles D. Moseley, Private Citizen (YES)
• Mrs. Lisa S. Muldrew, Teacher, Bulloch County Schools (VOTED NO)
• Mr. Thomas W. Norwood, Businessman (YES)
• Dr. Ralph E. Steuer, Board of Regents (ABSENT)
• Mr. J. Alvin Wilbanks, Superintendent, Gwinnett County Schools (ABSENT)

(Update Posted 10/3/08)

PAGE has appreciated your response to the governor’s plan to change the policy on TRS cost of living increases from “shall” to “may.” The Executive Director of TRS is hearing from hundreds of educators and he will be passing the messages on to the Board of Trustees. We think the list of leaders below also needs to hear from Georgia educators. Please contact them as soon as possible with individual letters and e-mails expressing your concerns.

Honorable Sonny Perdue
Office of the Governor
203 State Capitol
Atlanta, Ga. 30334
Georgia.governor@gov.state.ga.us

Honorable Casey Cagle
Lt. Governor of Georgia
240 State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Casey.cagle@ltgov.ga.gov

Honorable Glenn Richardson, Speaker
332 State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Glenn.richardson@house.ga.gov.

Mr. Tommy Hills, Chief Financial Officer
Office of Governor Perdue
Room 115
State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
thills@gov.state.ga.us

Honorable Bill Heath
Senate Retirement Committee
2225 Cashtown Road
Bremen, Georgia 30110-3504
billheath@billheath.net

Honorable Howard Maxwell, Vice Chairman
House Retirement Committee
716 Graham Road
Dallas, Georgia 30312
howardmaxwell@house.ga.gov

Act Now!!!

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