HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS Op-Ed: …When pressed by reporters if there are any savings in the near term, the governor replied, “No, but this is the first step.”
If proposing that Pennsylvania enact what would be one of the worst public pension systems in the nation is only the first step, what does he have in mind for the second step; abolishing pensions all together?…
It was spelled out in the Act 120 pension reforms that were enacted by the legislature in 2010, but instead of budgeting for those obligations, he provided $2 billion in corporate tax breaks and waited until now to claim a pension “crisis” in order to slash worker benefits as a “solution.”… (more)
[Representative Mike] Sturla is a perfect example of the old saying ” Numbers don’t lie but liars use numbers”. His average pension numbers include teachers and state employees that retired 20 years ago or longer, before public employee salaries got way out of hand.
A teacher retiring today after 35 years of service at age 57, who in most Lancaster Co. school districts is making $65K to $80K per year plus benefits, will be receiving an annual pension from the low to upper $60K per year plus medical insurance. They will also be able to receive a lump sum payment of every penny they contributed to the pension plan, plus 4% interest compounded over 35 years.
One other thing most people don’t know, beyond the yearly salary increase, teachers and state employees receive a longevity increase every year of about 2.25%. So when you hear a teacher say they settled for ONLY a 3% raise, they actually received 5.25% raise; of course they did it for the children.