HARRISBURG, DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa.– The Pension reform Bill has passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a 143-53 vote.
The bill will now head to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature.
After considering pension reform for several sessions, this bill finally addresses the state’s $64 billion unfunded public pension liability.
The legislation would create plans for new state employees that are hired on or after Jan. 1, 2019, for SERS and July 1, 2019, for education system employees. These three options would be available to the new employees:
- A side-by-side defined benefit/defined contribution hybrid plan with a 1 percent accrual rate.
- A side-by-side defined benefit/defined contribution hybrid plan with a 1.25 percent accrual rate (this will be the default plan if no election is made by the employee).
- A defined contribution-only option.
Existing employees who wish to opt in to one of the new plans would be permitted to do so, but they would be permitted to keep the defined benefit plan they already have.
