State employee, teacher retirees COLA heading to House vote

Marsha Shuler
The Advocate

The fate of a cost-of-living increase in some 100,000 retired state employees and teachers pension checks is now in the hands of the Louisiana House.

The House Retirement Committee on Thursday complied with a directive to release legislation it had bottled up on a 6-6 tie vote.

The full House voted 64-25 last week to order the committee to advance the bill which would grant a 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, to retirees in the four statewide pension systems: state employees, teachers, school employees and State Police. The average increase would be under $30 a month. Funds would come from special accounts set up in each system for the purpose of COLA granting.

The committee sent House Bill 42 sponsored by state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, to the House floor with an unfavorable report.

The parliamentary maneuver means that Jones will have to seek House approval to keep it alive and move it on to the agenda for later debate.

Jones has 73 House cosponsors of the COLA bill.