The state House has approved a bill that would provide a cost-of-living raise to approximately 59,000 retired teachers and state employees who have not seen an increase in their pension benefits since 2002. This issue stems from the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement Systems (PSERS), which provide retirement pay for state government workers and local school teachers.
In 2001, Act 9 was passed in Pennsylvania, which led to significant benefit increases for current public employees. However, these increased costs became problematic once they were fully implemented during the 2008 financial crisis. This has left retired teachers and state employees without a cost-of-living raise for nearly 20 years.
The passage of this bill in the state House represents a step towards addressing the financial hardships faced by these retirees. The raise would help them keep up with inflation and rising costs of living. It is important to ensure that those who dedicated their careers to serving the public are able to retire with financial security.
The bill now moves to the state Senate for consideration. Supporters of the legislation are optimistic that it will receive bipartisan support and ultimately be signed into law. This raise would provide much-needed relief to retired teachers and state employees who have been struggling to make ends meet on fixed incomes.
Note: The image is for illustrative purposes only and is not the original image associated with the presented article. Due to copyright reasons, we are unable to use the original images. However, you can still enjoy the accurate and up-to-date content and information provided.
