A short review of Governor Corbett’s proposed 2013-2014 state budget
presented on February 5, 2013 includes these items:
Ø Basic Education Funding – Increase 1.7%
($90 million)
Ø Accountability
Block Grant – Flat Funded
Ø Pre-K Counts/Head
Start Supplement Assistance – Increase 5% ($6.4 million)
Ø Transportation –
Increase 2.5% ($13.6 million)
Ø Special Education
– Flat Funded (3rd year)
Ø Food Service –
Increase 2.4% ($762 million)
Ø Social Security –
Flat Funded
Ø Retirement –
Increase 26.2% ($224 million)
Ø Total PDE –
Increase 3.4% ($338 million/$224 million for pension increase)
The Governor’s proposed budget includes two aspects of the need for
legislative action. The first position is pension reform as outlined by the
budget secretary. Charles B. Zombie recommends the following:
Ø new employees of
the Commonwealth be required to enroll in a 401(a) plan,
Ø most state
employees be required to contribute at least 6.4% of his or her salary to their
plan,
Ø public school
employees be required to contribute at least 7.5% of their salary,
Ø reduce the
multiplier in the formula used to determine future pension benefits by .5% for
all employees that are currently locked into a multiplier above the 2% level,
except for those who previously bought up to the higher multiplier above the 2%
level,
Ø current employees
may keep the higher multiplier by paying a higher contributions rate,
Ø cap the
pensionable income at the Social Security wage base (113,700 for 2013), and
Ø change the
calculation for final retirement income by increasing the number of years used
in the calculation.
Ø Moving forward,
if current employees choose to withdraw contributions, their pension payments
will be based on the amount remaining in their pension account.
Another aspect involves the sale of state liquor stores. These funds
would produce one-time revenue for all public school districts across a
four-year timeframe and would be used to support early child childhood
programs, teacher retention, and safety/security staff.
The Governor’s 2013-2014 state budget contains no new tax revenue, which
drives the cost of education to taxpayers through higher property taxes and
cost-saving program cuts. The cuts to basic education funding for the past two
years coupled with flat funding threaten to reduce the ability of school
districts to continue to provide the educational opportunities our children
need to compete in a global society.
The Governor’s proposal on pension reform does not address the issue of
public school funding on a long-term basis. Additionally, the Governor’s
continued support for cyber/charter schools pulls state and local tax dollars
away from strained school budgets.
