The 2007 legislative session already is in the making as legislators, lobbyists, and various executive agencies examine their problems, goals and issues. Funding always is an issue, and everybody is watching the revenue income of the State. Advocates for education, prisons, roads, health care, and, yes, the retired educators will be at the Legislature. Oklahoma Retired Educators (OREA) will be seeking funding for the Oklahoma Teacher Retirement System (OTRS), cost-of-living adjustments and health insurance premium support, and also watching for legislative programs that would damage the OTRS.
The Oklahoma Retired Educators Association, organized in County units across the State, will bring together representatives from different parts of the State in a meeting of its State Legislative Committee in September. We will discuss various retirement issues and decide upon a set of legislative goals, which will be sent to the County units after the OREA Board approves, for discussion with the various legislators representing the various counties. The OREA State leadership will discuss these goals with the legislators who will be dealing with the issues in the next session. The issues this year very likely will focus on:
Cost of Living
1. A 5% cost-of-living adjustment. Increased fuel costs, higher health insurance premiums, increased out-of-pocket health costs, among other basic cost-of-living expenses, require this adjustment.
Health Insurance Premiums
2. Since active Oklahoma educators now have their health insurance premiums paid by the State, it is time for OTRS members to have their health insurance premiums paid, as well. OREA will work toward increasing health insurance premium support for all retired educators regardless of whether their health insurance is Health Choice or not.
This is a critical issue because of spiraling health insurance premiums. The new Medicare drug program which will go into effect on January 1, will help Medicare- eligible retirees.
OTRS Funding
3. OTRS funding is a constant issue confronting retired educators. The OTRS retirement fund is only about 43% funded--one of the three lowest funded systems in the US. While benefit payments are not threatened at this time, it is vital that this funding level be raised to at least 60 to 75%. OREA will work hard this year to achieve another
funding measure that will deal with this problem. Funding is a responsibility of the State Legislature.
Cap Removal
4. There is a group of active educators who are advocating legislation that would remove all caps (on which retirement benefits are calculated) at a much faster rate than the law now provides. This plan, of course, would have the effect of dramatically raising benefits for future retirees. The proposal must be analyzed and handled very carefully, because of its possible negative impact on the funding of OTRS. Also, there are many retirees who retired under the constraints of caps, a situation which raises an equity issue that must be considered. OREA will be working very carefully with this issue.
Defined Benefits
5. For several years there has been pressure from a group of Legislators to transform the OTRS system from a Defined Benefit (DB) system to a Defined Contribution (DC) system. OREA always has resisted this change because it would remove the State responsibility for teacher retirement and make the system dependent on the stock market. Most educators in Oklahoma (one of the states paying very low salaries to all teachers) do not earn enough to pay their bills, buy a modest home and educate their children, and, also invest enough to provide an adequate retirement income lasting for a life time. Higher paid professors and administrators probably could provide for an adequate retirement, but they do not constitute the majority of our education community. OREA will continue to oppose the DC system for all retired educators.
OREA is an organization that includes educators from public schools and higher education. Membership is open to all educators 45 years of age and older. Contact Payne County Retired Educators association for enrollment forms.
