The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would increase pensions for over 60,000 retired school and government workers. The measure passed with a vote of 135-67 and now moves to the Republican-majority state Senate as the current legislative session nears its end. The proposal applies to municipal police officers and firefighters who have been retired for at least five years, as well as teachers and state employees who retired before July 2, 2001.
According to a House financial analysis, pension increases for teachers and state workers would range between 15% and nearly 25%, depending on their retirement date. Supporters of the bill argued that public sector retirees used to receive regular cost-of-living adjustments. “They’ve had to make do because we haven’t done,” said Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery.
Bill’s impact on pension costs
“Let’s give these folks the dollars they need to provide for themselves, since they have provided for us for so long.”
However, Republicans who opposed the bill described it as unaffordable and difficult to justify to constituents who don’t have traditional defined benefit pensions but would likely end up funding the retirees’ raises. The financial analysis projected that the proposal would add $332 million to the unfunded liability for the State Employees’ Retirement System and $614 million for the Public School Employees’ Retirement System.
“This is very expensive,” said Brad Roae, R-Crawford, noting that the state’s two public-sector pension plans already have billions in unfunded liabilities. “This is a local property tax increase and this is a school property tax increase piece of legislation.”
Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, the state Senate majority leader, expressed empathy for those who retired before 2001 but emphasized the need to be cautious about the fragile condition of the pension funds.
“Obviously, we must be careful about the fragile nature of our pension funds,” Pittman said. “The question raised to advocates continues to be how we pay for it without increasing the burden on property taxpayers across this commonwealth.”
The pension raise measure now awaits further consideration in the state Senate as the legislative session draws to a close.
