The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia urges the Wolf Administration and the Pennsylvania General Assembly to act now to pass meaningful pension reform legislation as part of the FY 2015-2016 budget framework.
In addition, the Chamber endorses the $30.8 billion bipartisan budget framework agreed to by the Wolf Administration and the Senate and urges all sides to negotiate a funding plan that is fair and reasonable for Pennsylvania businesses and citizens.
The Chamber strongly encourages the legislature and the governor to move forward with the side-by-side pension reform bill. For several years, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce has advocated for meaningful state pension reform. It is the top legislative priority for the business community.
The state’s two public pension funds — Public School Employees Retirement System and the State Employees Retirement System representing more than 800,000 workers, are facing a $53 billion shortfall.
Mandated employer contributions for state employee and school employee pensions are consuming a growing share of General Fund appropriations. Currently, more than 60 cents of every new dollar in revenue goes towards the state’s pension payments. The state’s Independent Fiscal Office projects that pension payments will grow from $1.69 billion this year, or 6 percent of appropriations, to $3.34 billion in 2019-20, or nearly 10 percent of appropriations.
Without legislative action soon, Pennsylvania’s pension obligations will continue to consume larger portions of the state budget and further strain the ability of the state and school dis¬tricts to maintain, let alone improve, basic services. The continued increase in pension costs relative to state revenues further jeopardizes the fiscal stability of the Commonwealth. Pension reform legislation should provide cost predictability and adequate retirement security for both state employees and the Commonwealth.
The Chamber also endorses the bipartisan budget framework agreed to by the Wolf Administration and the Senate, a framework that requires an additional $650 million in new revenue. The Chamber acknowledges and supports the need for additional revenue for education and to address the state’s structural deficit. The Chamber urges the Governor and General Assembly to implement a fair funding solution – one that may include a small increase in the Personal Income Tax (PIT), in order to fund the budget contained in the agreed-upon framework.
The Chamber applauds the Wolf Administration and General Assembly for their hard work as they seek to come to a bipartisan agreement on a FY 2015-2016 budget package that benefits all the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
