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HARRISBURG, PA (Nov. 14, 2023) — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved legislation today that would provide 69,000 retired public servants, many in their 80s and 90s, with a long overdue cost-of-living adjustment to their modest pensions.
House Bill 1416, if approved by the Senate and signed into law, will provide cost-of-living adjustments ranging from 15% to 24.5% to educators, education support professionals, and other public employees who retired prior to pension enhancements that went into effect under Act 9 of 2001.
It has been more than 20 years since these pre-Act 9 retirees received any type of increase to their pensions, which are, on average, less than $20,000 a year. As a result of rising inflation, their real buying power has declined by 40% over the past two decades.
“We’re talking about a generation of public servants who spent their careers making our commonwealth a better place to live, work, and learn,” PSEA President Aaron Chapin said. “They should be able to enjoy their retirements with their families, not worrying about how they will afford to put food on the table or pay for medications.”
Scott Brown, a math teacher who retired from the Colonial School District in Montgomery County in 2000, said a cost-of-living adjustment would help him and many of his former colleagues who struggle to make ends meet.
“We are talking about people in their 80s and 90s, many with health issues,” Brown said. “Nobody should be in a position where they have to decide between buying groceries or medicine in any given week.”
He noted that some of these retirees are in the final years of their lives.
“We will not be around forever,” he said. “This is an opportunity for our lawmakers to stand by us the way we stood by them, and their parents, and their grandparents. Let us close out the last chapters of our lives feeling appreciated and valued for our many years of service.”
Chapin commended Reps. Dan Deasy, D-Allegheny, and Steve Malagari, D-Montgomery, in the House and Sens. John Kane, D-Delaware, and Katie Muth, D-Montgomery, in the Senate for sponsoring and advocating for cost-of-living proposals.
From 1968 to 2002, the General Assembly passed cost-of-living legislation every four or five years for retired public workers. The last cost-of-living bill for pre-Act 9 retirees was passed more than 20 years ago in 2002.
Since then, the cost of food has increased 88%, the cost of housing has gone up 85%, and the cost of medical care has gone up 111%. This is why PSEA has made the passage of a cost-of-living adjustment for pre-Act 9 retirees a major legislative priority for 2023, Chapin said.
“Every year that goes by without a cost-of-living adjustment for retired public workers, their lives get harder, and their money doesn’t go as far,” Chapin said. “It is long past time for lawmakers to restore the promise of a secure retirement to our retired public servants.”
Chapin is a Stroudsburg Area middle school teacher and president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, student teachers, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.
