Pension Proposal Politically Motivated, Unconstitutional, Tartaglione Says

HARRISBURG, May 13, 2015 – With billions of retirement and tax dollars at stake, state Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today blasted the new Senate Republican proposal for pension reform saying the unconstitutional bill has not been properly vetted by the public.

“We are $53 billion in arrears with our two public pension systems because of bad decisions that also were made behind closed doors,” Sen. Tartaglione said today. “Now we are rushing a proposal that promises to make improvements but really only threatens the Golden Years of state employees and teachers who have dedicated their lives to Pennsylvania and its residents.”

Tartaglione said it is wrong that Senate Bill 1 was coalesced behind closed doors as a more than 400-page piece of legislation that was then rushed to the Senate floor for a rubber stamp of a vote.

The veteran Democratic Philadelphia lawmaker voted against Senate Bill 1 yesterday when it was considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee, and she voted against it today when the full Senate brought it to the floor for consideration.

On top of the lack of transparency and breakneck speed in moving SB 1, Tartaglione said majority Republicans are forgetting that these kinds of proposals by states that are looking to save money on the backs of workers who are not at fault for their decisions have been deemed unconstitutional by those states’ supreme courts.

“Unconstitutional, in this case, means we are breaking a contract with state employees and teachers who have regularly made automatic monthly payments for their own retirement,” the senator said. “And they have been making those payments based on the terms of a legal agreement they and the commonwealth accepted together.

“One of the most egregious elements of this Republican proposal is how it would decimate the retirements of thousands of teachers – the very same teachers who taught many of the lawmakers who are now rushing to make bad, unjust and wrong decisions,” she said.

One analysis found that the total savings of SB 1 for the commonwealth would be $3.3 billion over the next 33 years; $2.6 billion for school districts.

“That so-called savings means state employees are going to lose a lot of money and peace of mind because of a bad bill that will deliver hardly any relief for our troubled pension systems,” Sen. Tartaglione said.

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Tartaglione, Senate Dems, Offer Solution to Protect Pension Systems, Save Taxpayers Billions

HARRISBURG, March 12, 2014 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today said she is supporting a proposal that would save Pennsylvania taxpayers billions of dollars and solve the state’s pension problems.

The proposal, introduced by members of the Philadelphia lawmaker’s Senate Democratic Caucus, would refinance $9 billion of the $50 billion in unfunded liabilities now owned by the State Employees’ Retirement System and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, further reform state pension laws to stop charter schools from receiving double-dip state reimbursements, and lower the collars on state and school district payments to provide short-term budget relief.

“This is a bold proposal that promises to immediately take the pressure off the state’s pension systems,” Tartaglione said. “I am supporting it because it avoids the expensive court challenges other proposals will bring, and it reassures thousands of state workers, educators, and retirees that they will not be affected by attempts to change participation rules.”

Sen. Tartaglione said she is also encouraged by the proposal because it builds on Act 120, which implemented significant pension reforms in 2010, including the delivery of $3 billion in savings for the commonwealth and school districts.

Act 120 reforms capped collars for current employees; reduced the collar, or multiplier, for new employees from 2.5 percent to 2.0 percent; returned the vesting period from 5 years to 10; eliminated lump-sum withdrawals by employees at retirement; and established “shared risk” rules for new employees.

“With the proposal being put forth today by Senate Democrats, school district pension payments would decrease by $600 million over the next five years, including by $75 million in 2014-’15,” Tartaglione said. “Also, the commonwealth’s combined SERS and PSERS payments would drop by $1.2 billion over the same time period, including by $120 million in the coming budget year.”

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