Rep. Barbara Bailey's bill to set $1,000-a-month minimum pensions for longtime public retirees cleared the Senate budget committee Wednesday.

The bill applies to some teachers and public employees who worked for at least 20 years and have been retired for at least 25.

With retirement benefits being calculated on their base salaries from 25 years ago, Bailey said, some of those workers are receiving only tiny pensions.

"Unfortunately, there aren't any factors tied to these pensions that would allow their minimum monthly benefits to be adjusted for inflation or cost of living," said Bailey, R-Oak Harbor. "Many of these elderly retired people are just barely getting by on much less than $1,000 a month."

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