HARRISBURG — Gov. Ed Rendell has signed bills that reduce pension benefits for newly hired state and public school employees and require the establishment of recycling programs for electronic devices, his office said Wednesday.
The pension bill, which also creates an independent legislative fiscal office, buys time for the cash-strapped state treasury and local school districts by reducing the amount they must pay in the near term into the two major public-sector pension plans that serve more than 675,000 current and retired state government and public school employees.
While the bill would not affect pensions of people already in the system, it would reduce benefits and increase the retirement age for newly hired state workers, teachers and other school employees, among other changes.
From The Morning Call
