Ohio educators want lawmakers to make adjustments to retirement pension board

Ohio educators are encouraging the state legislature to make adjustments to the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) once they return from summer break.

A year ago, the General Assembly used the state operating budget to make significant changes to the board controlling the pension system Ohio public teachers rely on.

Educators have denounced those changes ever since, and House Bill 719, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hoops (R-Napoleon) would basically hit the reset button.

“This is one of the reasons why I almost didn’t vote for the budget, and that would’ve been the first budget that I never voted for,” Hoops said when introducing the bill in May. “What this language will do is basically just undo and keep and bring it back to what it was before.” 

Republican lawmakers included a provision in last year’s state operating budget changing the makeup of the STRS board. Under those changes, a majority of the board would be political appointees rather than elected members. 

Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma), a former teacher and H.B. 719 co-sponsor, echoed other educators who feel their control over the pension fund is being chipped away. 

“I worked for 30 years and part of my compensation as a public school teacher is my pension,” Brennan said. “We’re entitled to that money and we’re entitled to be stewards of that money as well.” 

According to Rep. Bob Peterson (R-Sabina), lawmakers felt they needed to respond to allegations of misconduct by two STRS board members. 

“The STRS board, no secret, has had a lot of ups and downs, disruptions over the last few years,” Peterson said. “This was a legislative response to some of those challenges, trying to right the ship.” 

But those changes have never actually gone into effect. 

“The courts have kinda put this on hold,” Hoops said. “That’s why I feel this is a good time to undo things and then that’ll be one less case the court has to deal with.” 

Educators like Melissa Cropper of the Ohio Federation of Teachers support H.B. 719, pointing out that because the budget provisions are on hold, the STRS board is the same as it ever was. 

“The composition of the board has not changed because of the lawsuit, so we’re continuing to operate with a majority of the elected members and a minority of appointed members. We’re continuing to function with elected people holding a chair and vice chair position,” Cropper said. “The system continues to perform and to be one of the best performing systems in the country while restoring benefits to its members.” 

H.B. 719 also has bipartisan support, with two Democrats and two Republicans signing on as co-sponsors. According to Brennan, that could boost the bill’s chances once lawmakers return to Columbus after the November election. 

“This could pass potentially as a standalone if there’s enough support for it,” Brennan said. “There’s also a chance…that we could get it attached to one of those famous Christmas tree bills during lame duck.” 

By Jesse Bethea

NBC4 Columbus

Read this report online at https://www.nbc4i.com/news/politics/ohio-educators-want-lawmakers-to-make-adjustments-to-retirement-pension-board/amp/