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Ohio Retired Teachers Association Sues Ohio STRS for Transparency
The group says the $80 billion pension fund refuses to turn over public documents it needs to conduct an audit.
The Ohio Retired Teachers Association (ORTA) is suing the $80 billion Ohio State Teachers Retirement System (Ohio STRS) to force it to turn over documents in an ongoing audit launched by the association. ORTA says Ohio STRS has not released public financial information required for the audit.
ORTA has raised $75,000 to contract pension audit expert and former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) attorney Edward “Ted” Siedle to conduct a forensic audit of Ohio STRS. In February, the law office of former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann submitted a public records request on behalf of Siedle to Ohio STRS requesting records related to the pension’s investment managers, investment consultants, performance compliance auditor, investment cost monitor, financial auditor, custodians, board, and staff.
John Damschroder: Ohio corruption spreads across state lines
John Damschroder
Ohio corruption has crossed state lines. Thanks to excellent reporting by the Energy and Policy Institute on the FirstEnergy annual filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, we learn utility customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia helped to pay for the Ohio bailout bribes.
FirstEnergy’s FERC filing says it misallocated expenses to all 14 of its power-providing companies for more than a decade, allowing companies such as Toledo Edison to pass the cost along to rate-payers. FirstEnergy says it is working with state utility regulators such as the Public Utility Commission of Ohio to identify the improper costs and to make refunds to customers.
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio is getting three independent audits in 2021.
Two audits come from the Ohio Retirement Study Council, which advises state lawmakers on all five public pension systems.
The third audit, however, is sponsored by a group of retired teachers who say Ohio is mismanaging the pension fund while disseminating false and misleading information to stakeholders.
The Ohio Retired Teachers Association raised $75,000 for a deep dive into the pension fund s management, Dean Dennis said. STRS is supposedly doing well but retirees haven t had a cost of living increase in years.
It s time, Dennis said, to find out why.