PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Legislature acted legally when it trimmed the annual cost-of-living increase for retirees in the state's public pension plan during the recent economic crisis, a state judge ruled Wednesday.
The ruling, issued by Circuit Judge Mark Barnett of Pierre, rejected a retiree's claims that a 2010 cut in the annual inflationary adjustment was an unconstitutional violation of a contract between the state and members of the South Dakota Retirement System.
The judge said the Legislature had the constitutional authority to change the cost-of-living adjustment in response to the economic downturn, which damaged the retirement system's financial health. Retirees have no contract guaranteeing that the cost-of-living adjustment will not change, so the cutback to a lower adjustment did not amount to an improper taking of private property, he said.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
