It’s been almost a decade since state retirees last received a cost-of-living increase. They deserve one. Lawmakers should approve the proposed 1.5% increase outlined in House Bill 616. Inflation has eroded the value of their pensions, which for most are modest. The average annual pension for nearly half of all state employees last year was just under $14,000.

Gov. Chris Sununu supports the increase, despite objections from some members of his party, and why not? Most of the money to pay for the increase will come not from the state but local property-tax payers – an estimated $4.3 million from municipal employers in year one and just $1 million from state coffers. Sununu’s largess is a continuation of the downshifting of what were once state responsibilities to property owners and renters, a shift that contributes to making housing less affordable.

For decades, the state contributed about 40% of the retirement costs of municipal employees. To avoid the need to find new sources of revenue, it gradually whittled down its contribution under governors of both parties until, in 2011, it eliminated what was then its 25% share of the cost. It was, as one state representative said at the time, the largest single property tax increase in state history. The cut has since added several dollars to local tax rates. Meanwhile, the state retirement fund remains about $5 billion in the hole.

Some Republicans, including Wolfeboro Sen. Jeb Bradley, who led a successful effort to move the state’s pension fund toward solvency, object to the cost-of-living increase. “This legislation flies in the face of all the work that has been done to reform the state’s pension system,” Bradley complained. It would also add to the burden of cities and towns, he said, which it certainly would. But the solution to the pension system shortfall, which has shrunk thanks to reforms and a strong stock market, shouldn’t rely on the constant erosion of retiree benefits. Most retirees will be dead long before the state’s pension debt is erased.

A cost-of-living increase was essentially a promise made to state and municipal workers, a promise that should be kept.