A state board has voted unanimously to keep a nearly 40-year-old policy that guarantees cost-of-living increases to pension payments for retired Georgia teachers.
By its vote, the board of the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia rejected a proposed change by Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office, which was concerned that the retirement fund won’t always be as financially stable as it is now. (“Retiree Plans Hurt By Market Decline As Anxieties Rise,” Nov. 5, 2008.)
The policy guarantees retirees 1.5 percent cost-of-living increases twice a year. The proposed change would have let the board vote each year on how much retired teachers get in cost-of-living adjustments, which would have opened up the possibility that retirees could get no increase in their pension payments some years.
