Published: 5/3/2019 12:01:29 AM
Modified: 5/3/2019 12:01:19 AM
An open letter to Sen. John Reagan: At a recent “cost of living adjustment” hearing on House Bill 616 on April 24, you made a broad statement about some state employees getting a pension from another source. Are you saying that if anyone is getting a pension from another source they do not need a COLA from New Hampshire? The first thing that came to my mind was that you were referring to retired military. If you are thinking this then I must say “shame on you.” If they served our country, they deserve that pension.
If any retired state employee is getting a pension from another company, they earned it and deserve it. So as far as I am concerned it’s still “shame on you.” The state has not given us a raise in nine years. How far do you think that 1.5 percent is going to stretch? Cost of living is not something that we can control but have to live with.
A retired state worker pays taxes that help pay their retirement pension from the state. We are not free riders.
A senator at a previous committee meeting I attended stated retirees should be investing to supplement their state retirement income during retirement. This is a grand idea for those who can afford it, but the state of New Hampshire taxes investment and dividend income at 5% above a predetermined level. And what is going on in the Legislature now? The possibility of a 5% tax on capital gains? Not much help to already financially strapped state retirees.
MAUREEN TIMMINS
Loudon