House offers plan for changes in Pa. pension system

Pennsylvania House Republicans have come up with their own proposals to change state worker pensions, weeks after Senate legislation to do the same.

The House plans, however, have a little something extra in them.

Top Senate Republicans were quick to acknowledge their proposal to enroll future state and school district employees in a 401(k)-style retirement plan wouldn’t address the huge burden of current employees.

So the state still would be on the hook for billions of dollars to pay for their defined-benefit plans.

But Rep. Warren Kampf, R-Chester, says that under his proposals, current employees would be encouraged to *switch* to the new defined-contribution plans.

“And receive not 4 percent from the employer, but 7 percent from the employer, and they, the employee, would be required to contribute 4 percent,” Kampf said.

New hires, though, would only receive a 4 percent contribution from their state and school district employers.

The state’s pension funds face a deficit of about $40 billion.

Gov. Tom Corbett has singled out pension reform as a top priority of his administration once the budget’s finished.