Ohio Public Workers Retire In Record Numbers To Avoid SB5 Pension Changes

Ohio’s state and local governments are experiencing “the biggest exodus of experienced workers in recent history, perhaps ever,” as public employees are retiring in record numbers to avoid pension reforms and changes to collective bargaining rights contained in the controversial SB5 law, which Ohio Republicans passed. The state’s three largest retirement systems have set all-time records this year for applications, which have increased 10 percent for teachers, 24 percent for non-teaching school employees, and 50 percent for the State Highway Patrol. As one retiring worker told the Columbus Dispatch, “(Public workers) are afraid not to retire.”