Corbett: Pension bill before tax talk
HARRISBURG (AP) – Gov. Tom Corbett said he won’t consider a tax increase to help fill a growing budget gap unless the Legislature agrees to overhaul Pennsylvania’s pension system for future state and school employees.
Corbett said Tuesday if pension legislation does pass, he’s not sure what, if any, kind of tax increase he’d support.
The new fiscal year begins July 1.
Pension legislation was scheduled for discussion Tuesday in the state House of Representatives. The proposal Corbett supports would combine a limited traditional, defined-benefit pension with a 401(k)-style defined-contribution plan that would provide a smaller benefit than employees get under the present system.
It would not affect the hundreds of thousands of current state and public school employees.
The state’s largest teacher union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, opposes it.