A big victory in Shapiro’s budget is the promised pension increases for teachers, support staff, and other public servants who have gone over two decades without a cost of living adjustment.
One thing that I remember when I interned for one of the statewide unions in Harrisburg a little more than a decade ago was a meeting our retirees had with Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget secretary. Those retirees were angry that they haven’t had a cost of living adjustment for over a decade at that point.
They were part of a large group of public-sector workers with the commonwealth who were excluded from Act 9 of 2001 pension increases because they resigned before the law went into effect and have spent decades living under $20,000 a year.
With this new budget, they will be receiving an additional $75 to $300 per month based on how long they’ve been retired.
“For too long, these dedicated Pennsylvanians, many now in their 80s and 90s, have struggled to make ends meet amid the skyrocketing costs of housing, gas, groceries, and medicine. Now, after decades of waiting, they will finally receive the modest increases they deserve,” Aaron Chapin, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said in a statement on Sunday.
