Both CalSTRS and CalPERS have mechanisms in place to guard a
retiree’s defined benefit pension against eroding purchasing
power. The first is a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, and the
second is a “floor” below which the buying power of a pension
cannot fall. Now thanks to a CFT-sponsored bill recently signed
by Governor Newsom, CalSTRS retirees from earlier decades will
see additional relief.