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A brief COLA history
November 1971: COLA based on first $6,000 of pension income
July 1974: All COLAs added permanently to retiree's pension
October 1975: Repeal of COLA law that provided for an automatic pension increase linked to the previous year's inflation index. (House vote was 112-101 to repeal while the Senate agreed on a voice vote.) Annual COLAs now voted yearly by the Legislature.
1980-1981: Proposition 2 1/2 passes. State now obliged to assume the cost of COLAs for all local and county retirement systems in addition to funding those for retired teachers and state employees.
1980's-1990's: COLA base increased from $6,000 to $8,000, $9,000 and then $12,000 where it has remained since 1997.
July 1997: COLA (subject to the pension ceiling) automatically linked to CPI or 3%, whichever is less.
July 1997: Local government systems required to fund their own COLAs.
July 1999: COLA set at 3% even if CPI is less than 3%.
2006: PERAC says the COLA base could be increased to $16,000 by extending the state's pension funding schedule by three years (2023-2026).
July 2006: Blue Ribbon Commission on Pension Reform says increasing the COLA base to one's full pension should be "considered" provided some benefit "reforms" are enacted.
April 2007: The legislature's Public Service Committee heard testimony on 13 bills relating to the COLA for retired public employees.
May 9, 2007: The Public Service Committee voted to raise the base on which a COLA is calculated from $12,000 to $16,000 beginning July 1, 2007, and index future base increases on the schedule to which Social Security recipients are entitled.
May 14, 2007: SB1586, redrafted as SB2234, was referred to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means for its analysis, consideration and recommendation. A review by Ways and Means is required before the bill can be considered by the full Senate.
More COLA facts