Retired teachers will protest system changes May 28

Retired teachers from around Louisiana will be at the state capitol on May 28 to protest proposed changes to their retirement system.

According to this Alexandria Town Talk article by reporter Robert Morgan, retirees are opposed to a proposed merger of the state retirement systems.

The last time a merger of retirement systems was considered, a flood of protests doomed a plan by former Senator Walter Boasso to consolidate the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana and the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System. That was in the 2005 legislative session.

This year's proposal, House Bill 230 by House Speaker Jim Tucker (R-Terrytown) and Rep. Jeff Arnold (D-New Orleans), is even more ambitious. It would also bring in the other two statewide employee retirement systems, the School Employees' Retirement System and the State Police Retirement System.

Supporters say that consolidating the systems would make their management more efficient. Opponents suspect that the larger issue is the vast sums of money that a single board could funnel to favored investment firms.