Well, we had a real success this morning. The House State Affairs Committee voted to hold HCR 42 this morning. Quite a surprise! And yet, why should we be surprised when our legislators do the right thing? We should expect it, am I right? What this means is that, unless Rep. Lake (R) Blackfoot, the sponsor of the bill, finds a way to bring it back or slip it through in some other fashion, we should be okay on this and the PERSI retirees will get the 2.48% COLA that was recommended by the PERSI board.
What bothered me most about this legislation was that the justification for the legislation was touted to be "fairness" and "equity". By this they meant that we shouldn't give PERSI retirees a COLA because active public employees are suffering from furloughs and layoffs. As active public employees and as retired public employees, we all need to band together to stand up for each other. To me this looked like a way to further attack the morale of our state workers and divide us as a group.
It is true that active state employees are suffering from furloughs, layoffs and a lack of raises. But visiting that suffering on our retirees, who just last year were forced off state health insurance, won't do anything to ease the suffering of active public employees.
Here is the truth about the COLA:
- If it were eliminated, there would be NO SAVINGS of state money. The money in the PERSI fund comes from contributions of retirees in the years they were working, contributions of active employees, contributions of employers, and investment income.
- Part of the COLA will be to make up for deferred COLAs from previous years
- Contribution changes for active employees are determined by many factors, but will NOT BE AFFECTED by this COLA.
- The PERSI Board recommended this COLA, and the legislature, to our knowledge, has NEVER over-ridden their recommendation.
- PERSI retirees are not just retired state employees, but are retired teachers, firefighters, ditch riders, police officers, and many others.
Here are the people who voted to support public employees and retirees and who have confidence in the PERSI Board of Directors. Please call or email them to say "thank you".
Rep. Elfreda Higgins (D)
Rep. Anne Pasley-Stuart (D)
Rep. Lynn Luker (R)
Rep. Elaine Smith (D)
Rep. Eric Anderson (R)
Rep. Max Black (R)
Rep. Carlos Bilbao (R)
Rep. Raul Labrador (R)
Rep. Russ Mathews (R)
Rep. Steve Kren (R)
Rep. Erik Simpson (R)
Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd (D)
Rep. Phylis King (D)
Here are the people who voted against public employees and retirees and who apparently do not have confidence in the PERSI Board of Directors. Please contact them to find out why they are not supporting public employees and retirees.
Rep. Thomas Loertscher (R)
Rep. Bert Stevenson (R)
Rep. Ken Andrus (R)
Rep. Brent Crane (R)
Rep. Joe Palmer (R)
Here's a link to a page with all of their contact information: http://legislature.idaho.gov/about/contactbycommitteePrinterFriendly.htm?searchText=22&house=House
