Tag: COLA for public employee pensions
Defined benefit promises in the public sector are not as secure as many thought. One of the more surprising responses of public plan sponsors to the financial crisis and the ensuing recession was their reduction, suspension, or elimination of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for current workers and, in a number of cases, current retirees. The respons…
The brief’s key findings are: Since the financial crisis, 17 states have reduced, suspended, or eliminated cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) for public employee pensions. This response was surprising as current employees and retirees tend to be legally shielded from benefit cuts. But the COLA cuts have largely been upheld in the courts under the rationale that –…
