Retired teachers in Madison County and beyond are grateful that Proposition 9 was passed.

Lorraine Coleman, a retired teacher in Madisonville and one of the Presidents of the Retired Teachers Association in our community, has said they feel supported.

“Needless to say, we’re all so thankful, grateful, and blessed as a result of the support that the citizens of the state of Texas did for retired teachers,” said Coleman On Tuesday, 2,141,913 voters approved Proposition 9, which authorizes the state to use $3.3 billion to fund the retirement cost-of-living adjustment.

The Texas Retired Teacher Association Executive Director, Tim Lee, said these words about the “victory.”

“It’s an awesome victory, and our members worked so hard; they own this. It’s great, and I love them all so much. Not only did we win, but we won first place,” said Lee.

With the new law passed, retried teachers will see their pensions increase between 2% and 6%, depending on when they retire.

The cost of living increase also will benefit former public school employees like librarians, nurses, paraprofessionals, and bus drivers. This cost-of-living increase does not affect taxpayers.