Quigley Fears for Pensions Following Wolf’s PERC Closure
HARRISBURG – Rep. Tom Quigley (R-Montgomery) questions Gov. Tom Wolf’s dictatorial decision to eliminate the Public Employees Retirement Commission (PERC), which evaluates all proposed legislative pension changes.
PERC also reviews Pennsylvania’s municipal pension plans and certifies this information to the auditor general’s office for the distribution of municipal pension aid. PERC has fulfilled these key responsibilities for more than 30 years since the passage of Act 293 of 1972, Act 66 of 1981 and Act 205 of 1984.
“As stewards of the public dollar, we must act on decisions that will have a tremendous financial impact only when adequate information is available,” Quigley said. “Because PERC considers all potential pension changes and provides information about the effects associated with them, eliminating the commission has real consequences for thousands of Commonwealth citizens who have earned state and municipal pensions.”
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale confirmed how the governor’s decision to eliminate PERC would impact Pennsylvania’s $8 billion municipal pension problem. He said, “If people think there’s a [municipal] pension problem now, wait until municipalities don’t get their [Act 205] payments.”
“Why shut down PERC now when meaningful statewide and municipal pension reforms are being considered by the General Assembly? It is clear the governor, despite his lip service to the contrary, has no interest in protecting the taxpayers by supporting pension reform,” Quigley said. “It is absolutely ludicrous not to protect Commonwealth residents by monitoring this information.”
Representative Tom Quigley
146th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Alison Evans
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aevans@pahousegop.com
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