Well, this isn’t exactly a surprise.
According to WTAE, Governor Wolf told KQV radio this morning that he will veto the pension reform bill.
After talks fell through, the GOP majority decided to pass a budget based on their own priorities and dare Wolf to veto them.
Already the Governor has done just that with the budget and liquor privatization. Now he is readying his pen for pension reform.
Both sides are still communicating with each other and the State Senate is coming back next week. Nevertheless, deep disagreements remain and it is unclear when this impasse will end.
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5 Responses
I just wish all folks would stop sugar-coating this issue. My wife is a retired public school teacher and we have a pretty nice gig, retirement wise. That said, the amount she paid into the PSERS system, compared to the benefits she receives is pocket change. If the system truly gets fixed, it may cost us a couple hundred dollars a month out of pocket. I would much rather do that than pass this mess along to my kids and grandkids as Wolf wants to do. Public employees need to get their heads out of the sand and be willing to pay a realistic amount into the system if they want to continue to ride this state retirement gravy train. This is unlikely, given that governor’s election was bought and paid for with public sector union dollars.
The “burden” being placed on future state employees is that they will be in a 401k rather than in a pension – just like the rest of the world. All pa taxpayers via taxes are on the hook for state pensions, not just future state employees. Their contributions into their 401ks will not go to pay for current pensioners – that would be illegal and is not in the current pension reform bill. Read the bill – wolf has lost credibility on the issue, and is trying to avoid the pension reform issue altogether – something that he said he would not do during the campaign.
Aaron-
You don’t know what the f*ck you are talking about.
“The obligation of the state legislature is to keep taxes low and to efficiently operate state government” is not even remotely true.
BTW, the executive branch operates the government.
It’s wrong to put the burden on future hires for the failure of the state to have kept up with it’s obligation to provide funds for current pensioners.
From Wolf:
“Furthermore, during my consideration of this legislation, it became clear that this legislation violates federal tax law as it would be considered an impermissible cash or deferred arrangement (CODA). In addition, the bill forces newly-hired employees to pay down the unfunded liability of existing pension plans, caused by years of government failure to make necessary payments, while denying those new employees the full benefit of their contributions. “
What an intellectually profound comment (sarcasm). The obligation of the state legislature is to keep taxes low and to efficiently operate state government. The pension reform bill does not burden workers and has no impact – zero – on current state workers. Read the bill. It affects future hires only and seeks to avoid politicians making future promises to future hires that the state cannot possibly keep. What end of the deal did future employees hold up?? 90 percent of people who have a retirement plan have a 401k – not a pension. Get a clue and at least attempt to read over your post before hitting the post comment button.
The GOP idea of pension “reform” is to fail to meet their obligations and further burden the workers who put in money and held up their end of the deal.