Teacher issues in legislative bin

• By SARAH CHACKO
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jan 9, 2009 - Page: 9A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The director of the state retirement system for teachers said Thursday she is anticipating a variety of bills in the upcoming legislative session, including those aimed at cost-of-living increases and attention for charter schoolteachers.

No legislation has yet been drafted, Maureen Westgard, director of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana, called TRSL, said at a meeting of its legislative committee.

But ideas are starting to percolate, she said.

The chairmen of the state Senate and House retirement committees, Sen. Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, and Rep. Joel Robideaux, No Party-Lafayette, have tentatively agreed to sponsor legislation to approve cost-of-living adjustments, called COLAs, for both the teachers’ and state employees’ retirement systems, Westgard said.

A COLA for retirees this year depends in part on the change in the national Consumer Price Index for urban areas from December 2007 to December 2008. That figure is expected to be released Jan. 16.

“I think that is going to be very interesting and very telling,” Westgard said, noting that oil prices and the national economic climate might have affected the figure.

By law, enough money to fund a COLA has to be saved in a separate state account before an adjustment can be granted.

For TRSL, the amount of the COLA could be the lesser of the Consumer Price Index and, depending on its investment earnings for the year, either 2 percent or 3 percent.

The price tag would depend on who is covered by any increase.

There have also been discussions about minimum benefits, Westgard said.

State Rep. Jean Doerge, who called for a study on minimum benefits, said during a meeting in October that legislators have developed some criteria for ways to help retirees receiving less than $1,000 in monthly benefits.

Officials from both systems are looking into how many people that would affect and how it would affect their finances, said Doerge, D-Minden.

System officials and retiree associations have voiced support for the use of dollars from an expected state surplus to pay down outstanding debt from past unfunded retirement benefits, which would free up money for potential increases in benefits.