A message from PEF Retirees
President Ray Ferraro
COLA Passes
For as long as there has
been a PEF Retirees, we have fought to get a permanent,
automatic annual boost to state pensions to offset
inflation. And now it is finally becoming a reality.
The Legislature has passed a COLA bill that would raise
our pensions (up to $18,000) by half the rate of
inflation each year. However, they could not go up by
more than 3 percent or less than 1 percent. This applies
to retirees who have been collecting their pensions for
at least five or 10 years, depending on their age. (For
details, click here.)
We, at PEF, were among the very first to call for this
cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and it has taken years
of phone calls, rallies, letters and meetings with
legislators to get the Legislature to pass this
legislation.
It has taken years of patient negotiations with other
state, county and municipal retiree groups to unify
everyone behind the same piece of legislation.
No single person deserves the credit. It has been the
product of decades of efforts by countless individuals,
including most of you who are reading this.
We should thank our legislators for passing this bill.
And we owe state Comptroller H. Carl McCall our thanks
for his unflagging leadership and support on this issue.
It certainly could never have been possible if the
comptroller were not doing such a superb job of managing
the investment of our state pension funds.
We should also remember that it was the lawsuit brought
by PEF against the state which finally resulted in the
U.S. Supreme Court decision that forced the state to stop
raiding our pension funds to cover state operating
expenses.
Gov. George Pataki was a party to the agreement which
produced this COLA legislation. We must all remind him
now of that promise and make sure that he signs the COLA
bill into law promptly.
We have come much too far, and with too much difficulty
to let this COLA slip through our fingers now.
For the first time in my memory (1979-2000), the law will
not be a two-year supplementation bill.
For the first time in my memory, the legislative leaders,
the governor, the comptroller, the NYS AFL-CIO and all
its affiliated state-employee unions are speaking with
one voice and unity.
In the midst of our joy over the COLA, we are also sad to
see that one of the people who worked so hard with us for
this victory will not be able to enjoy it.
Our Region 7 Retiree Chapter president, Fred Narrow,
passed away suddenly on Friday, June 2. Fred had attended
our Retiree Executive Board meeting in Albany on May
25-26. He seemed to be his usual self — exuberant,
out-going, very participatory in the meeting and
generally having a good time.
Fred was the first PEF regional coordinator of Region 7,
elected at the first PEF Convention in 1979. I was
elected at the same time as Region 5 coordinator and we
served together through those tumultuous first years of
PEF. Those of us who knew Fred will miss him very much
and we pray that he rests in peace.
We also join PEF in mourning the passing of PEF Vice
President Jean DeBow in June.