FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2009
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House Bill 1828 Advances Out of Committee,
On Track for Possible Senate Vote on Wednesday

HARRISBURG – Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) said that today’s unanimous approval of House Bill 1828 by the Senate Finance Committee keeps the legislation on track for a possible vote by the full Senate this week.

"The legislation to provide fiscal relief for Philadelphia remains on schedule," said Senator Pileggi. "Unless a major disagreement emerges, the Senate is in position to vote on House Bill 1828 on Wednesday. It is possible that the House could concur in our amendments and send the bill to the governor for his signature on Wednesday as well."

After being approved by the Finance Committee with an amendment, House Bill 1828 also received first consideration in the Senate today. It will receive second consideration tomorrow, setting the stage for a potential vote by the full Senate on Wednesday.

The bill as originally passed by the House would authorize the City of Philadelphia to impose a temporary sales tax increase of one percentage point, with all of the revenue dedicated to pension costs, and to defer some payments to its pension system.

The Senate Finance Committee added several significant reforms to House Bill 1828, including:

• Eliminating deferred retirement option plans (DROPs) for future elected officials.
• Establishing in law the schedule announced by Mayor Nutter to make the deferred pension payments authorized in the bill. An initial $90 million payment will be due on June 30, 2013. The balance will be due on June 30, 2014.
• Prohibiting contractors from giving gifts to pension system officials and employees. Contractors also will be prohibited from making campaign contributions to pension system officials.
• Creating a code of conduct for municipal pension systems, which will be required to adopt policies regarding conflicts of interest – including “revolving door” policies for employees of the system and contractors. Pension systems will also be required to adopt procedures to advertise and review contract proposals.
• Requiring pension systems which are essentially bankrupt to be taken over by the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Board.

"Senator Pat Browne and the members of the Finance Committee improved the bill significantly by adding a number of crucial pension system reforms," said Senator Pileggi. "I believe those reforms are necessary both to improve the long-term health of municipal pension systems in Pennsylvania and to win the support of a majority of the Senate for this legislation."

CONTACT:

Erik Arneson
earneson@pasen.gov
(717) 787-4712