This meeting is the first time GSRA (Georgia State Retirees Association) will do outreach in Statesboro to educate local state retirees and future retirees about their benefits and inform them to become better advocates for themselves. The meeting will be Wednesday, April 10, at 10 a.m. at Synovus Bank, 2 East Main Street in Statesboro, in the Community Room on the second floor. Speakers will include GSRA board members and retirees. Special guests are Senator Billy Hickman and Representative Lehman Franklin.
There are two main retiree pension systems for Georgia State Retirees - TRSGA (Teachers Retirement System of Georgia) and ERSGA (Employee Retirement System of Georgia; including most other departments, such as DNR, DOT, Forestry, DFCS, Public Health, Corrections, etc.). TRSGA retirees receive routine cost-of-living adjustments to their pensions. Since the great recession of 2008, ERSGA retirees in some years have received no adjustments to their pensions, small bonuses, or recently two minuscule COLAS compared to inflation. Many state retirees are struggling. The meeting has three goals: to educate retirees about their pension and the three determinants of its stability, which includes the possibility of future COLAS; to increase membership to GSRA so the association will become a larger voice for all state retirees, including rural areas; and to learn the role the General Assembly/Executive Branch (one of the three determinants) plays in retiree benefits and how to more effectively advocate for yourself with your representatives in the State Legislature.
All current state employees, retirees and spouses are invited. For more information, visit www.mygsra.com, or Cynthia Arnsdorff at cindi.arns@gmail.com or 912-657-2808.
