Public servants earned their retirement. Alabama should keep its word.
Teachers, nurses, judges, court clerks, DHR workers, and everyone else who chose public service in this state did so with a promise attached: work your career, pay your share, and the state will make sure retirement is secure. That promise is not a partisan issue. It's a contract.
I also believe an honest answer beats a promise I can't keep. The math around pensions and health insurance is real, and I'd rather tell people the truth than say what sounds good in a campaign.
I support us following through with the promises Alabama made to its civil servants and its retirees.
The investments are strong. The retiree story is harder.
RSA had its best year in its 85-year history in FY2024 (year ending September 30, 2024). TRS returned 21.00%, ERS 21.21%, and the Judicial Retirement Fund 22.21%. TRS alone earned $5.7 billion in investment income that year.
Aggregate RSA funded ratio is 70.1% — meaning 70 cents set aside for every dollar promised. That ranks Alabama 36th nationally. TRS specifically sits at roughly 65%, ERS at roughly 57%. That's not solvency crisis, but it's not comfortable either.
Alabama education retirees have not had a real, permanent cost-of-living adjustment since 2007 — 19 years. In April 2026, the Legislature passed a one-time longevity bonus of $1 per month per year of service. A 25-year retiree gets $300 total, not adjusted for inflation, not permanent.
A real 2% COLA proposal (SB315) was filed this session with 18 bipartisan cosponsors from both parties. It died in Senate Finance & Taxation-Education without a hearing.
Alabama contributes about 13% of payroll to the retirement systems. The national average is about 21.6%. That gap is why unfunded liability keeps growing even after a blockbuster investment year.
Honest homework, not campaign talking points.
I don't have every answer figured out. Anyone who says they do isn't being straight with you. Here's what I'm actively working through:
- The COLA math. The last real COLA (2007) added about $924 million in unfunded liability to TRS by itself. Any serious COLA has to answer that trade-off honestly — not pretend it doesn't exist, and not use it as a reason to do nothing.
- The return assumption. RSA assumes 7.45% investment returns; the actual 24-year average has been about 6.4%. That gap has been closing lately, but the assumption drives everything else.
- Why the state under-contributes. Why has Alabama's employer contribution stayed at 13% of payroll when the national average is 21.6%? What would it take to close that gap without cutting somewhere the state can't afford to cut?
- What the FY2025 annual report says. The updated numbers just posted. I want to read them before I take a firmer position on the funded-ratio trajectory.
If you're an RSA member and you know these numbers better than I do, I want to hear from you. This is the kind of policy that gets designed better when the people it affects are part of the conversation.
Show up, listen, and be honest about the math.
If Alabamians in SD-16 send me to Montgomery, here's what I'll do on retirement:
- Show up to every RSA and PEEHIP conversation I can. The Legislature makes these decisions; the Legislature has to be in the room for them.
- Answer questions in plain English. If a retiree emails me asking why their COLA hasn't moved in 19 years, I'll write back with an actual answer — not a form letter.
- Support the 2% COLA proposal that had bipartisan cosponsors and died in committee this session. Bring it back and press for a hearing.
- Not promise anything I can't defend with math. If I say "I support a COLA," I'll be able to show you how it gets funded.
Retirement security is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It's a promise the state made to the people who taught its kids, kept its records, patrolled its roads, and answered its phones. I believe.
Ask me anything about RSA.
Retirees, active members, family — if you have a question, send it. I answer my own email, and I don't send form letters. I'll tell you what I know, what I don't, and what I'm still figuring out.