Retired state workers haven't seen pension bump in 17 years
Elsa Solis, a 75-year-old retired state caseworker, tries to stay out of her home as much as possible, spending most of the day volunteering at a local senior center. On a fixed income that hasn’t budged for 17 years, the San Antonio resident says she can’t afford to fix her central air conditioner and a plumbing leak at her 50-year-old home, which she said is in dire need of repairs.
“I tell people if you can work as long as you can work, continue because once you stop, that’s it. You’re on a level that stays like that and everything has gone up,” said Solis who worked for the state health agency for 32 years, retiring in 1997.
Solis is among a growing number of retired state employees who have been calling on lawmakers to increase their monthly retirement checks and to shore up the pension system. Faced with an ever-rising cost of living, retirees say that living off their pension checks, which the Legislature hasn’t increased since 2001, has become so difficult that they are refinancing their homes, going to food banks, skipping medication and going back to work.
The average monthly pension of the state’s 111,000 retired state employees and beneficiaries is $1,690, according to the Employee Retirement System of Texas. About 18,000 of those retirees live in the Austin area.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190905/retired-state-workers-havent-seen-pension-bump-in-17-years
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