The House of Representatives passed legislation to grant cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirees in six Oklahoma pension plans, including teachers, firefighters, police, public employees and justices and judges.

House Bill 3350 passed with a unanimous bipartisan vote of 99-0.

“Our state retirees have not had a cost-of-living adjustment for 12 years, even as their health insurance premiums and other living expenses have risen,” said Rep. Avery Frix, R-Muskogee, the bill’s principal author.

HB 3350 would base COLAs on the number of years individuals have been receiving retirement benefits from the state. Those retired for five years or more as of July 1, 2020, would receive a 4% increase in monthly pension payments. Those retired at least two years but not five would get a 2% increase.

Those retired less than two years would not see an increase.

The bill was proposed after an actuarial analysis showed that a 4% COLA would not affect any retirement plan’s funded ratio by more than 2.9%.

Overall, the plan would affect the system’s cumulative funded status by around 2%, and the plans would continue on an upward funding trajectory in the future even after a COLA.

Benefit managers for each of the pension plans spoke during an interim study hosted by Frix last fall about their plan’s ability to absorb the COLA and its necessity .

State retirees last received a COLA in 2008. Since then, inflation has increased 19.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sabra Tucker, executive director of the Oklahoma Retired Educators Association, said most of her members are people who are on Medicare.

“Our members are very pleased that the pension systems are in the good shape they are in thanks to the actions of the Legislature. This COLA will have a very low impact to the system, and it is the right thing to do for our elderly,” Tucker said.