State House and Senate candidates support increase in retired teachers’annuities
At the Williamson County Retired Teachers Association’s candidate forum, Central Texas candidates for Texas House and Senate agree on one thing — retired teachers and school employees deserve a cost-of-living adjustment in their annuities in the 2023 Session of the Texas Legislature.
Eleven candidates appearing on Williamson County ballots were invited to participate in the forum. They were State Senate District 5 candidate Tommy Estes; District 24 candidates Kathy Jones-Hospod, Peter Flores; State House of Representatives District 20 candidate Raul Camacho and Terry Wilson; District 52 candidates Carline Harris, Luis and Echegaray; and District 136 candidates John Bucy, Michalle Evans and Burton Culley.
Seven of the 11 candidates were in attendance and Jeff Fraiser, who represented incumbent Terry Wilson, also participated. Not present were Charles Schwertner, Senate candidate for District 5, and Michelle Evans and Burton Colley, House candidates for District 136.
Support for a cost-of-living adjustment was music to the ears of the room full of Wilco TRTA members. TRTA advocates statewide for improved benefits for all education retirees and is the largest association in the nation for retired teachers and education employees. There are about 450,000 education retirees in Texas.
Texas Teacher Retirement System retirees haven’t had a cost-ofliving adjustment since 2013. That was a 3 percent raise, capped at $100 per month, benefitting only those who retired before 2004.
All K-12 public education employees in Texas are required to be members of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a state agency that manages retirement, health and death benefits for 1.9 million members. TRS collects a contribution from active employee paychecks to fund its retiree benefits. Just a handful of Texas school districts also participate in the federal Social Security program. Most TRS retirees do not benefit from Social Security’s annual cost-of-living raises. In 2023, Social Security retirees will receive a 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment.
According to TRTA, 95 percent of Texas school employees do not pay into Social Security.
Candidate Positions
House District 136 incumbent candidate John Bucy said he not only supported a boost in annuities but that he has “already drafted the legislation calling for a 10 percent increase for a cost-ofliving adjustment for TRS retirees across the board,” he said.
Mr. Bucy said he also would advocate for a biannual check on inflation so teachers “don't have to keep coming back and fighting.”
“That way, raises can be more of an automatic process, and hopefully take the burden of fighting for one off you,” he said.
District 52 candidate Caroline Harris said she would definitely support a cost-of-living adjustment, but noted the various bills expected to be filed on the issue.
“That is where I'm relying on y'all to let me know as constituents what you need,” she said.
Her opponent, Luis Echegaray, said that it is important to honor teachers and make sure that they have a decent retirement.
Speaking for Terry Wilson, Jeff Frasier said, “It’s time to start treating the people that we’ve made promises to, as to what your retirement is going to be. If a state agency can get a raise for its employees, you should be getting it first.”
Peter Flores, Senate District 24 candidate and a state senator from 2018 to 2021, pledged to look at cost-of-living adjustment bills to see which is best.
“And we'll work very hard to make sure that we keep our word, not only to you, but to the ERS (state employees) retirees as well,” he said.
When asked if they would advocate for the legislature to review the impact of inflation on the retirees annually, each candidate affirmed they would.