Sonoma County retirees are one step closer to their first pension cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) since 2008.

Sunday, September 27, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1601. The law gives the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors the flexibility to grant COLAs to county and Superior Court retirees and their beneficiaries, and to target that relief to the people who need it most.

Assemblymember Chris Rogers wrote the bill in partnership with SEIU 1021 and the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association (SCERA). It passed the Assembly 60-3 and cleared the Senate without a single “no” vote.

“We’re thrilled we were able to get our Sonoma County pension bill through the Legislature and signed by the governor,” said North Coast Regional Vice President Travis Balzarini, who testified for the bill before committees in both houses. “Our Sonoma County and Sonoma County Superior Court retirees have endured 18 years without a pension cost-of-living adjustment.”

SCERA is the only county pension system under California’s 1937 retirement law that has no automatic yearly COLA. Since retirees’ last increase in 2008, Bay Area prices have gone up more than 50%, and their pension checks haven’t grown at all.

Before AB 1601, state law gave the county only two options. One was a flat increase for every retiree. The other was a COLA bringing retirees back up to 80% of their original purchasing power, which could be paid only from excess investment earnings. After 18 years, both have become too expensive. SCERA’s actuary priced the 80% option alone at more than $365 million.

AB 1601 lets the Board of Supervisors approve a COLA each year. The board will work with SCERA’s retirement board to decide who gets it, how much, and how it’s funded. The COLA can go to every retiree or only to those who have lost the most purchasing power, and any available funding source can pay for it.

The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. SCERA will pay its actuary for new COLA cost studies. After that, the Board of Supervisors has to choose a COLA option and find the money to fund it. SEIU 1021 will be lobbying hard for supervisors to act quickly.

“The next step is to convince the Board of Supervisors to fund this urgent financial relief for our retirees,” Balzarini said.