An Act To Restore Full Cost-of-living Increases for All Maine State Retirees
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §17806, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2015, c. 334, §1, is further amended to read:
A. Except as provided in paragraphs paragraph A-1 and A-2, whenever there is a percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index from July 1st to June 30th, the board shall automatically make an equal percentage increase in retirement benefits, beginning in September, up to a maximum annual increase of 3%. Effective July 1, 2011, the increase applies to that portion of the retirement benefit up to $20,000, which amount must be indexed in subsequent years by the same percentage adjustments granted under this paragraph and paragraph A-2.
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §17806, sub-§1, ¶A-2, as corrected by RR 2015, c. 2, §4, is repealed.
summary
This bill removes the limitation, put in place in 2011, to the cost-of-living increase for persons receiving state retirement benefits that applies the increase only to the first $20,000 of retirement benefits. This bill returns application of the cost-of-living increase to the full benefit.