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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 6, 2022 10:57 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Patrick J. Harkins and Rep. Robert E. Merski |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Allowing more frequent cost-of-living adjustments for county pension annuitants |
| Under the County Pension Law, when County Retirement Boards provide a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to annuitants, the COLA must be equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area for the 12-month period ending August 31 for the year in which the adjustment is reviewed. While this has the laudable intention of attempting to provide our county retirees with COLAs that keep up with inflation over time, it, unfortunately, means that in many years County Pension Boards often cannot afford to provide any adjustment at all because the CPI-U is too high. That is why we are introducing legislation that would amend the County Pension Law to permit pension boards to grant a COLA that could be any percentage up to, but no more than the applicable CPI-U. This will aid our counties and benefit our county retirees who might not otherwise get a COLA for several years. Please join us in supporting this legislation. |
Introduced as HB2716