Retired State Employees Need Support From Texas Too

We all know how teachers make an impact on our lives as well as our children’s lives, but have you ever stopped to consider the immense impact of state employees and retirees? Often overlooked, they silently work behind the scenes, allowing everyone to benefit from their efforts. It is just as important to give that same support moving forward to retired state employees who worked so hard to make Texas great.

Think about in the past when a press release from the Governor discusses issues in our state that require attention, it was the dedicated state employees who were deployed and worked diligently to address them.

More than 120,000 retirees are currently receiving a monthly pension check through the Employees Retirement System (ERS), which operates under a similar funding structure as the teachers' retirement system. Retired state employees diligently contributed to this system throughout their careers. However, it is disheartening to note that these pension checks have remained stagnant since 2001, despite the escalating prices. (And we know how much inflation has soared these past few years.

Unfortunately, there will be no vote in November to give us the support we need and deserve. But there is a solution: Gov Abbott can include this issue in the next special session that he calls.

It's the right thing to do for Texas retired state employees, just like it is for teachers.

** Note: this is recently published by Carroll Fuchs, TPEA member, retired state employee from Texas Department of Insurance (TDI).