Connecticut’s teachers are worried about their pensions, not just for themselves, but for the new teachers joining their profession for whom retirement is many years in the future.

In their recent television and radio campaign, Connecticut teachers ask the General Assembly to “keep the promise” made them years ago when teachers opted out of Social Security in favor of a state-administered pension system.   Teachers are worried that the General Assembly will not contribute the full amount of the state obligation to their pension fund.  Except for a couple of times, every year since the inception of the Teachers Retirement System, the annual deposits from the state budget have fallen short of the full contributions.  This has led to the current crisis of a $5-billion shortfall in the fund.   Teachers have continued to meet their obligations through payroll deductions, while the legislature has not met its deposits.

I agree that the situation is less than fair and I share the teachers’ concerns about the solvency of the pension plan. This growing problem has received my attention for many years now.  For the last four years, I have signed on to resolutions calling for full funding and even an amendment to our state Constitution to mandate full contributions to the Teachers’ Retirement System each year.  I considered this issue so important that I joined my Republican colleagues in the Senate in a filibuster to hold up business on other matters years ago to fight against a Democrat proposal to increase the benefits offered under the TRS without first fully funding the teachers’ pension plan.

And, that brings us to this year, just weeks before the end of the 2006 Legislative Session, when we are once again debating the merits of passing a constitutional amendment to protect Connecticut’s teachers by requiring full funding of the TRS.

If approved, first by the General Assembly and then by Connecticut voters in the upcoming November election, the legislature would – barring a fiscal emergency – be required to appropriate to the TRS the full amount recommended by the TRS actuary and certified by the Teachers’ Retirement Board as necessary.

We should not need to amend the state constitution to guarantee full funding of the TRS, but because of the poor history of the legislature, I conclude that we need a constitutional amendment. Sadly, I am not optimistic that Democrat leadership will allow a vote on the resolution this session.

I hope the final budget of the General Assembly allocates the full contribution to the TRS this year, making an important step toward protecting teacher pensions.  I do worry, however, that the current budget will result in a future deficit of over $1 billion in 2007-08.  It would be impossible to fund the full amount of the TRS in the next biennial budget for the state if the current budget proposed by the majority party passes. 

As always, I am interested in your thoughts regarding any of the issues important to our state.  I can be reached at the Capitol at 1-800-842-1421 or you can send me an e-mail at Catherine.Cook@cga.ct.gov. Also, you will find information regarding the legislative process on our website at www.cga.ct.gov.