For Immediate Release
October 30, 2007
Contact: Joe Sterns
717-787-5708
(Cell) 717-497-0806
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Folmer Joins Pension Reform Fight

Action needed to head off looming financial crisis

HARRISBURG (Oct. 30, 2007) – Senator Mike "Citizen Mike" Folmer (R-Lebanon) today lauded legislation introduced in the House and Senate which would dramatically reshape the public pension system in Pennsylvania.

Folmer announced he is cosponsoring legislation authored by Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh/Northampton/Monroe) and Rep. Scott Boyd (R-Lancaster) that would abolish "defined benefit" pension plans – often criticized for their generosity at taxpayers' expense – for all state and municipal employees hired after Nov. 30, 2008. All public employees working for the Commonwealth or any of its subdivisions, including legislators and school employees, would instead be allowed to participate in "defined contribution" pension plans.

"I wholeheartedly favor this vital reform legislation, as public pension costs will skyrocket out of control in the coming years," Folmer said. "We have to turn the ship away from the financial iceberg it's headed toward, by bringing the public pension system in line with the common sense transformations implemented by the private sector in recent years."

Folmer is among a small handful of legislators who declined accepting enrollment into the defined benefit pension plan offered to legislators.

Folmer noted that defined contribution plans are good for taxpayers while fair for public employees.