WSJ: Retired Black Cops Pressure Georgia For Pension Equity

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Retired Black Cops Pressure Georgia For Pension Equity

They Were Barred From a Plan By Race in '50s and '60s; Now, Trying to Set it Right

Living on $700 a Month Less
By KELLY GREENE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 16, 2006; Page A1

ATLANTA -- Howard Baugh grew up next door to Martin Luther King Jr. and joined the Atlanta Police Department in 1953 as its 12th black recruit. He is a veteran of the civil-rights demonstrations that roiled this city -- and of a long struggle against bigotry within the police force itself. Mr. Baugh, now 81 years old, is still fighting that battle. Together with a group of fellow officers who crossed the color line decades ago, Mr. Baugh is pressing the state of Georgia to grant him the same pension benefits as his white counterparts from that era.

Mr. Baugh and the other African-American retirees say that early in their police careers, they were blocked from participating in a state-backed supplemental retirement fund because of their color. As a result, Mr. Baugh says, he receives about $700 less each month than white officers who signed up. As many as 200 other retired black officers, many in their 70s and 80s, are in the same boat.

For four years, the aging retirees have petitioned state legislators for redress. Until last week, lawmakers have replied that because of Georgia's sluggish economy, the state couldn't handle the cost of providing benefits to the excluded officers. The state estimated that if they were added to the fund, there would be an unfunded liability of $20 million. Now, with the state's economy improving and Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue last week proposing $1.2 billion in additional spending for the fiscal year that starts July 1, the retirees are renewing their push.

Mr. Baugh desperately needs the money. Last year, buried under medical bills related to diabetes and heart problems, he filed for bankruptcy protection. For others, time has run out. The first eight African-American policemen hired in Atlanta have died.

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Write to Kelly Greene at [e-mail]

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