Midstate lawmakers taking lead on municipal pension reform bill

With the governor's budget address now over and hearings on a 2015-16 spending plan slated to begin next week, legislative proposals should begin to move in the General Assembly.

One bill on the horizon is House Bill 316, a municipal pension reform proposal from representatives Keith Greiner (R-Lancaster) and Seth Grove (R-York).

The yet-to-be introduced bill, which is backed by the Coalition for Sustainable Communities, a broad group of business and government leaders, is calling for a cash-balance defined-benefit plan for new public safety hires.

Grove took the lead on a similar bill last legislative session. Greiner is the prime sponsor on this latest effort. A memorandum seeking co-sponsors began circulating last month.

Municipal pension plans in Pennsylvania collectively have an unfunded liability of nearly $8 billion, according to the latest distress score card reports from the commonwealth's Public Employee Retirement Commission.

Several urban areas are facing significant challenges, including York.

"Public safety costs now account for more than 70 percent of York's operating budget," York Mayor Kim Bracey said in a statement through the CSC. "The ever-growing strain of funding legacy pensions is not only a threat to basic municipal services, but to the pension funds themselves."

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said pension costs have hurt the city's budget and forced cuts to services, including public safety.

"Current police and fire personnel costs account for nearly 60 percent of the city's total budget," Gray said.

In his budget address on Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf said making the state and municipal pension system stronger is a priority.

The two state retirement systems have an unfunded liability of more than $50 billion.

Source: Central Penn Business Journal