York County House Republicans Vote in Favor of Pension Reform Measure
HARRISBURG – Today, members of the York County House Republican delegation supported the passage of Senate Bill 1071, which reforms the Commonwealth’s two public pension systems. Specifically, the legislation will reform benefits for new-hire state employees to bring them more in line with the private sector. The new benefit package is referred to as a “stacked hybrid” with a limited defined benefit pension and a defined contribution, 401(k)-style benefit. The legislation passed on a bipartisan vote of 136-59.
State Reps. Seth Grove (R-Dover), Kate Klunk (R-Hanover), Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York Township), Stan Saylor (R-Red Lion), Mike Regan (R-Dillsburg), and Keith Gillespie (R-Hellam) issued the following statement after the passage of
Senate Bill 1071:
“Our votes today represent step one of a good-faith effort to address Pennsylvania’s pension crisis. With an unfunded pension liability of over $60 billion, action must be taken to ‘stop the bleeding’ by reforming our pension system for new hires moving forward. This legislation is a win for the taxpayers, as it institutes, for the first time, a defined contribution retirement plan which is what most workers are receiving in the private sector.
“These reforms will protect taxpayers by shifting risk from the Commonwealth and towards the members of the retirement plan and will provide upward of $5 billion in long-term savings to our retirement systems. No current retirees or employees will be affected by this legislation and future employees under this system will receive a retirement benefit package that is competitive to what they would receive if they worked in the private sector. We acknowledge that there is still much more work to be done to address and reform state pensions and we remain committed to continuing to work toward those ends, but we are thankful that a bipartisan majority joined with us in taking the first steps of reform together.”
York County House Republican Delegation
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Eric Reath
ereath@pahousegop.com