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DECEMBER 16, 2009 | Commentary by KATRINA CURRIE
Five Threats to Pennsylvania's Prosperity
Pennsylvania has long been one of the most economically stagnant states in the nation. For the period 1991-2008, the Commonwealth ranked 45th in job growth, 46th in personal income growth, and 47th in population growth. Pennsylvania has also faired poorly in independent evaluations of states' business climates, i
NOVEMBER 30, 2009 | Commentary by ELIZABETH BRYAN, NATHAN BENEFIELD
Taxing Tuition: The Future of Higher Education?
With Pittsburgh on the brink of bankruptcy thanks to its continual out-of-control spending, Mayor Ravenstahl and his allies on City Council have hatched a new scheme to collect more money to pay for their profligate ways: a 1% tuition tax on the city's financially-strapped college students.
NOVEMBER 23, 2009 | Policy Points by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION
Pennsylvania Pensions and Taxes
Pennsylvania's statewide pension plans for public school employees, state workers, legislators, judges and other government employees - the Public School Employee Retirement System (PSERS) and the State Employee Retirement System (SERS) - will require significantly higher taxpayer contributions in the 2012-13 fiscal year and beyond.
Recent Blog Posts
MARCH 12, 2010
State and Local Government Outpace Private Pay by 44%
A new survey from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics looks at the total employer costs for workers in both the private and public sector. While wages for state and local government workers nationally outpaces that of the private sector - and for all categories, except management - the cost of benefits in the government sector is far greater.
State and local government employees earn, on average, 35% higher wages than their private counterparts, their benefits per hour are 69% higher (for a total of 44% higher compensation). Splits for categories are below.
| Hourly Costs | |||||
| Private | Total | Wages | Insurance | Retirement | Total Benefits |
| All | $27.42 | $19.41 | $2.15 | $0.92 | $8.00 |
| Management, professional, and related | $48.19 | $34.12 | $3.20 | $1.81 | $14.07 |
| Sales and Office | $21.60 | $15.53 | $1.90 | $0.60 | $6.07 |
| Service | $13.66 | $10.32 | $0.93 | $0.21 | $3.34 |
| State and Local Government | Total | Wages | Insurance | Retirement | Total Benefits |
| All | $39.60 | $26.11 | $4.61 | $3.19 | $13.49 |
| Management, professional, and related | $48.15 | $32.96 | $5.11 | $3.78 | $15.19 |
| Sales and Office | $27.57 | $16.94 | $4.21 | $2.00 | $10.63 |
| Service | $29.37 | $17.72 | $3.71 | $2.83 | $11.65 |
| Teachers | $54.85 | $38.83 | $5.63 | $4.54 | $16.02 |
| Government Premium | Total | Wages | Insurance | Retirement | Total Benefits |
| All | 44% | 35% | 114% | 247% | 69% |
| Management, professional, and related | 0% | -3% | 60% | 109% | 8% |
| Sales and Office | 28% | 9% | 122% | 233% | 75% |
| Service | 115% | 72% | 299% | 1248% | 249% |
posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 08:47 AM | 0 comment
MARCH 7, 2010
Gov. Rendell Calls for Changing Pension Benefits for New Hires
In an interview with the Allentown Morning Call, Gov. Rendell calls for changing the pension benefits for new state and school district employees, citing the enormous costs of Pennsylvania's pension systems (emphasis mine)
Q: You said you cannot legally touch the pensions of public employees, but should the system be changed for new employees?
A: Yes. We should reduce the benefit level. We should reduce when those benefits accrue. We can't afford it. It's going to break school districts and the state. It was a giveaway. Interestingly, everyone got upset at the [2005 legislative] pay raise. The pay raise cost the taxpayers about 1/500th of what this [2001] pension grab is costing. And no one got mad at Gov. Ridge. No one got mad at the Legislature back then. I guess it's because the impact is phased in over so many years. But this is a tsunami compared to the pay raise.
Of course, this suggests a dramatic departure from the Rendell administration's policy on pension - his latest state budget proposes delaying pension payments, and he has not offered any proposal to change benefits for new hires in his seven-plus years.
posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 01:14 PM | 0 comment
MARCH 3, 2010
Teacher Unions Bankrupting the State
The pension crisis has been looming large throughout the state, yet pension reform proposals in Pennsylvania have been met with protests by school employees unions.
The Pottstown Mercury writes how school employees protested the West Chester School Board's resolution supporting House Bill 2135 and Senate Bill 1185. These bills are attempts to reform the current system by creating a "hybrid plan," and only for new hires - though this reform itself would be subject to the same political manipulation as the current plan.
Oddly enough, thought the PSEA has widely criticized taxpayers not paying enough into the fund, they have not said anything about Gov. Rendell's proposal... which basically boils down to paying less into the fund. It is this sort of politics being played with defined contribution plans that necessitate the need for reform and moving to a defined contribution model.
posted by ABHILASH SAMUEL, NATHAN BENEFIELD | 09:19 AM | 0 comment
