I kept seeing #COLANOW everywhere — here’s what it means

The hashtag #COLANOW has been flooding social media for months.

Every time a New Jersey politician posts anything — a budget update, a press release, a photo op — the comments fill up with it. #COLANOW. Over and over. I kept seeing it and, like you, I kept wondering what it meant. Other than putting the thought of a cold Pepsi in my head.

I knew it had something to do with retired police and firefighters. I have friends who spent careers in law enforcement, people I have always respected, people who are now in well-deserved retirement. I have two friends named Joe. Both Joes retired from public safety. Both Joes have been hashtagging #COLANOW for months.

Finally my curiosity got the best of me. I did some digging. Here is what I found.

What COLA means — and when New Jersey took it away

COLA stands for Cost-of-Living Adjustment. The idea is exactly what it sounds like: as the cost of everything goes up, the pension a retired public employee relies on should keep pace. For decades, New Jersey law provided that protection to retired teachers, police officers, firefighters, state troopers and other public employees.

In 2011, Gov. Chris Christie suspended the program as part of a sweeping pension and benefits reform bill passed with bipartisan support. That was 15 years ago. Three governors. Billions of dollars in back pension payments. Still no COLA.

The #COLANOW movement has found a home in the New Jersey Assembly Republican caucus, with Assemblyman Alex Sauickie, R-Ocean, authoring legislation — Bill A1168 — to restore cost-of-living adjustments specifically for Police and Firemen's Retirement System retirees. That bill has drawn support from nearly 60 Assembly co-sponsors — well above the 41 votes needed to pass in the chamber. As of this writing it remains in committee.

SEE ALSO: Stay NJ survived the budget deal — the fine print is going to matter 

What the bill would actually do

The legislation would restore COLAs for retirees who have been receiving pension benefits for a minimum of ten years, applied to the first $75,000 of annual pension benefits and tied to the Consumer Price Index, with a maximum annual increase of 3 percent. Pension benefits above $75,000 would receive a limited 1 percent adjustment. 

The Fraternal Order of Police, the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Retired Police and Firemen's Association, and the NJ PFRS COLA Forum have all endorsed the bill. 

The political irony here is not lost on anyone. The New Jersey State Retired Police and Firemen's Association noted in a public statement that the COLA suspension was imposed by a Republican governor — and that every Democratic governor and legislature that followed chose not to restore it either. The loudest current push for restoration is coming from New Jersey Republicans. The party whose governor took it away is now leading the charge to bring it back. That is Trenton in a sentence. 

The larger picture

Here is where I land on this.

We all deserve a cost-of-living increase. The old standard 3 percent annual raise that used to come with private sector employment seems largely extinct. Affordability is New Jersey's number one concern and not much is being done about it — because honestly, not much can be done quickly about structural costs that have been building for decades.

But retired police officers and firefighters occupy a specific category. These are people who made a promise to protect and serve — and kept it, every single day, for 20 or 25 or 30 years. The state made a promise back to them in the form of a pension that would keep pace with inflation. A retired New Jersey State Trooper named Kevin put it plainly: he planned his retirement around the system he paid into his entire career. Now he is working in retirement just to keep up with rising costs and considering leaving the state. "I love New Jersey. Born here, raised here, worked here, raised my family here. But I may have no other choice." That sentence should land hard in a state already watching residents leave.

Too many promises have been made and withdrawn by New Jersey government. The two Joes I know — and every retired officer and firefighter behind that hashtag — held up their end of the deal. They showed up. They answered the calls. They did the job.

#COLANOW indeed.