Mar. 06, 2015
HARRISBURG-- Rep. Warren Kampf (R-Chester/Montgomery) today introduced
House Bill 727 to reform Pennsylvania's two large unsustainable pension systems. Kampf's proposal will require future state workers and school district employees to enroll in an employee-directed defined contribution plan, rather than the current and wholly taxpayer-funded defined benefit plan.
Pennsylvania funds two large pension systems-- the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) and the larger Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS)-- which combined are underfunded by over $53 billion and are requiring an ever larger share of state and local school districts’ budget dollars to keep up with the funding requirements imposed by the state.
“The simple fact is that the growing public pension liability threatens the quality of our education system and the pocketbooks of taxpayers, and we need to stop adding people to it.” Kampf said. “These two funds have been a drag on state and school district budgets for years, and the taxpayers who must fund the shortfalls. We need a retirement benefit for future employees that is fair, but never puts us in this crisis again.”
Through a combination of the 2008 economic collapse, years of underfunding and prior administrations’ unwillingness to make the tough choices, our pension system is now at a point that threatens every Pennsylvania taxpayer at the state and local level.
Kampf’s legislation would change the retirement system for new hires to a defined contribution system that more closely matches the retirement plans in which most Pennsylvanians working in the private sector are enrolled.
“By moving to a defined contribution system we will allow school districts and state government to plan for the future using definable costs,” Kampf said. “This legislation relieves taxpayers of the burden of market fluctuations and the historic mishandling of pension obligations for future employees. This is a change our school districts need so they can continue providing quality education, and taxpayers are asking for it in order to protect their household budgets.”
Representative Warren Kampf
157th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: David Foster
dfoster@pahousegop.com
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