To the editor:

I am responding to Rep. Kim Olsen’s local commentary, titled “GOP legislators build on 2011 success,” which was published on Jan. 20.

What the commentary does not say is how many Maine people were hurt by the “successes.”

For example, retired educators took quite a few hits. They will receive no cost-ofliving adjustment (COLA) for three more years; the new COLA is 3 percent of the first $20,000 of our pension when it does return; and the state allocation of 45 percent of our health insurance premium is frozen at the 2010-11 funding level, effectively lowering the state’s contribution and increasing the retiree contribution.

These are some of the results of LD 1043 which Rep. Olsen voted for and considers a “success.”

In his State of the State address, Gov. Paul LePage told us we should, along with our legislators, be “enraged” that Maine is such a poverty state. Well, many of us, retired educators are enraged at the price we paid in 2011 to balance the budget and say: “Not another cent more!”

Peg Newberg,
Harpswell

letters@timesrecord.com