Our most recent report and a Brief from 2017 analyzed local pension health in Allegheny County and the possibility of reforms for municipal pensions based on our work and the suggestions of the 2015 municipal pension task force. One of the points we raised in the report was “The General Assembly expects to take up pension reform proposals in the current session, but whether those reforms include local pensions or just focus on the state SERS and PSERS systems is yet to be seen”.
A recent article from northeastern Pennsylvania collected comments from members of the PA House on the topic. The article noted “At the start of a new legislative session, Republican caucus leaders directed their remarks to curbing costs for the two giant state pension plans for state government and school district employees. However, many also stressed that municipal plans deserve attention, too”.
The thoughts are quite varied: do something for new hires, but maybe not all new hires (public safety vs. non-public safety employees); pension bonds; hybrid plans; etc. All ideas that have been touched upon before, but will this be the session where something gets done?