Standing with teachers and retirees on COLAs

Members of the Georgia House Democratic Caucus are very concerned about proposed cuts to cost of living adjustments (COLAs) for educators enrolled in the Teachers' Retirement System.

We stand with teachers and retirees and in strong opposition to the proposal to slash COLAs because it is wrong. The fact is, the funding for COLAs is already in the system and teachers and retirees enrolled in the program have been paying into the system over the years, including for semi-annual COLAs, throughout their careers. To abandon it now, in tough economic times, is not the policy direction we should take in this state. The money for the COLAs was earned by the retirement system and should be awarded to those it was designated to help, our teachers and retirees.

Make no mistake, we are in a budget crisis, but this is not the solution. Indeed, it makes the problem worse, not better when we take this money out of the economy. The General Assembly should roll up its sleeves and go back into a special session while we still have real options to fix the budget crisis.