BY JIM FORD, NJFOP President

One Coalition. One Plan. One Goal: A Permanent and Sustainable Solution to Restore COLA.

TRENTON, NJ — The New Jersey State Fraternal Order of Police is announcing a comprehensive initiative aimed at bringing New Jersey’s first responder community, retirees, labor organizations, stakeholders, and legislators together to pursue a permanent and sustainable solution to the restoration of Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) for retired public servants.

The NJ State FOP believes the path toward restoring COLA must begin with cooperation.

This issue is bigger than any one organization, union, pension system, or individual proposal. The men and women who spent their careers protecting New Jersey deserve a serious, unified effort to address the loss of the retirement protection they once relied upon.

For that reason, the FOP wants to work with all of our partners throughout the first responder community and with members of the New Jersey Legislature to develop a solution that provides meaningful relief to retirees while also being actuarially, legally, and fiscally sustainable.

The FOP has developed a roadmap to help move that effort forward: “First Responders United for COLA — One Coalition. One Plan.”

The plan establishes a structured one-year process designed to move from coalition building and research to the development of a technically supported proposal that can be advanced through the legislative process.

Throughout the process, potential solutions will be evaluated based upon legal authority, actuarial impact, meaningful retiree relief, fiscal responsibility, and the practical ability to implement the proposal.

“This is not about one organization walking into Trenton and saying we have all the answers,” the NJ State FOP said. “It is about bringing the people who represent New Jersey’s first responders and retirees together, putting the facts on the table, examining realistic funding options, and developing a proposal that we can collectively stand behind and fight for.”

The FOP also recognizes an important reality: New Jersey did not arrive at the current COLA situation overnight, and it will not be solved overnight.

The circumstances that led to the suspension of COLA developed over many years. Restoring it in a responsible and permanent manner requires more than simply identifying the problem. It requires careful analysis, a viable funding mechanism, actuarial review, legislative support, and sustained cooperation among the organizations representing the people who will be affected.

That does not mean waiting. It means doing the work necessary to succeed.

The FOP intends to make every effort to turn this roadmap into the successful coalition necessary to move COLA restoration forward. That includes educating legislators, developing shared factual materials, maintaining communications with retirees and active members, examining the financial and actuarial consequences of different approaches, and organizing a unified COLA Day aligned with the legislative process.

Our retired police officers, firefighters, and other first responders dedicated decades of their lives to serving the people of New Jersey. Many planned their retirement around a pension system that included protection against the declining purchasing power of their retirement benefits. As the cost of housing, healthcare, food, utilities, insurance, and everyday necessities continue to rise, the importance of addressing COLA only becomes greater.

The NJ State FOP believes the best opportunity for meaningful and lasting progress comes from unity.

We are prepared to bring our plan to the table. We are prepared to listen to the ideas of our partners. We are prepared to work with legislators from across New Jersey. And, most importantly, we are prepared to do the difficult work necessary to develop a solution that can succeed.

There may not be an instant fix.

But there can be a plan.

There can be cooperation.

There can be persistence.

And there can be a unified first responder community working toward the same objective: restoring a meaningful, responsible, and sustainable Cost-of-Living Adjustment for the men and women who spent their careers serving New Jersey.

One Coalition. One Plan. One Goal.

Restore COLA.