HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS Op Ed: …There are sensible pension reforms circulating in Harrisburg by Democrats and Republicans, but they are being held hostage by the administration and their special interest allies.
A plan supported by Senate Democrats would allow the state to address the 10 years of underfunding pensions by borrowing $9 billion to immediately reduce the unfunded liability.
The interest on those bonds could easily be afforded with a reasonable severance tax on the natural gas industry and no additional burden to local property taxpayers… (more)
This clown states that we have to stop the credit card approach to pensions and then says we need to borrow $9 BILLION DOLLARS to reduce the unfunded liability. Typical political BS, borrow your way out of a debt problem.
EDITOR: He pays for the bonds with a tax on Marcellus Shale extraction. .
I know that, I read the entire article.
Wouldn’t it be better to use that money for a more worthwhile purpose? It’s still creating more debt to pay debt.
Think about how much interest would have to be paid on $9 Billion dollars.
To the Editor, Why don’t you do an in depth article on how generous the teachers and state employee pension plans are?
Mr. Yudichak talks about the employees doing their fair share. The majority of school and state employees are still covered by the terms that were improved during the Ridge administration. They contribute 6% of their pay and earn 4% interest on their contributions (Try doing that at any savings institution today)
When they retire they can receive ALL of that money back in a lump sum if they so desire.
Any overtime worked is included in their pension calculation (you won’t find that happening in private pension plans).
The pension formula is so generous that you can walk out the door after 35 years (no matter what your age) and receive a pension that is very close to what you made before you retired. Then we have some school districts that actually give retirement bonuses to teachers and administrators when they retire.
I could go on but, the simple fact is that borrowing money to fund a deficit is only increasing the cost. Unless changes are made, the system will eventually collapse when the taxpayer revolts against ever increasing taxes to support teachers and state employees that think they are somehow special and ENTITLED to better benefits than the people who pay their salary.
Politicians that are controlled by the unions need to be removed from office and there needs to be an honest conversation with employees and the union to find a solution to this problem that is workable and doesn’t continue to kick the can down the road.
Why do the teachers and politicians deserve the Marcellus Shale extraction tax? Those resources belong to ALL the Pennsylvania taxpayers, not just the privileged few.
The politicians sold the pensioners an unfunded promise and that’s their problem. Let the unions and the politicians find the money. The taxpayers did not vote for the 2001 increase and had no say in its approval. If the state needs to declare bankruptcy, so be it. That’s the fate of deadbeats.
EDITOR: A problem is that we voted in the politicians. Then most of us went back to sleep.