If it sounds like NEPArtisan is beating the PSERS pension issue to death, it’s because the Scranton Times is doing so, and doing so poorly.
Sarah Hofius Hall, primogenitor of the recent string of “you’re gonna pay more taxes” articles, has routinely ignored a lot of important information. She corrected that today, thankfully.
The first bit of information, and the most important, is that districts (and thereby the state) took a contribution holiday for two years, in which they did not contribute a dime to the pension system. Leaving that out was nonsensical, so thankfully today that got a mention.
The second bit of information is that PSERS is not just for teachers. Anybody employed by a district, from custodians to secretaries to the superintendent to principals are in there. So this problem is not just a teacher problem.
Hofius Hall put those tidbits in. Nice.
But wait. The article actually says that PSEA CONTENDS that a contributing factor to the pension crisis was that districts and the state put no money into it. Excuse me? That’s a fact. Not a perspective. And PSEA contends that teachers put more into the pension system than the state or districts combined. Contends? Hmm… Are you not a reporter? Investigate and ascertain the truth.
Instead, Sarah Hofius Hall makes the issue PSEA vs. solvency. Common sense would tell you that not putting money into something that requires money will cause problems, but, hey, she can ask an accountant. But she didn’t use common sense, or look for certitude.
All this constant reporting serves to do is further the public’s loathing of teachers and their benefits.
Now, as for solutions, I’ve been e-mailing and speaking with State Reps, candidates, and officials and got some insight. In PA, absurd things like gum are not taxed. We don’t have the severance tax on natural gas. We allow for a HUGE corporate tax loophole (of course we do, corporations basically own government in America). If we tax these items, and close that loophole, there will be a windfall of revenue that can quite easily be used to plug this pension gap without any burden on taxpayers (unless you chew gum or own a natural gas fracking company).
There is a solution. It’s not axing pensions, it’s not creating hybrid pension-401k plans, it’s not destroying the middle class. It’s being sensible about taxes and it’s about governing responsibly.
Again, we know that the Times and the Commonwealth Foundation are having a raucous love affair, and that conservatives would love to see pensions removed and the middle class destroyed, but it’s getting really obvious (to me, anyway) by the undertone of these articles.
