Pennsylvania Gov. Looks to Shutter Pension Commission

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is looking to dismantle the state’s Public Employee Retirement Commission (PERC), a state-run group that provided review and analysis of municipal pension systems and pension-related legislation.

The Commission’s fate was all but sealed back in December, when Wolf cut its funding out of the state budget.

Wolf believes the Commission – which has 4 full-time employees – is not worth the cost because its work is redundant.

More from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

“We are moving forward with the process of shutting down PERC,” Jeffrey Sheridan, spokesman for Mr. Wolf, said in an email Monday.

In a phone interview, Mr. Sheridan said the administration believes the State Employees’ Retirement System and Public School Employees’ Retirement System already provide thorough and independent analysis of pension legislation.

“The actuarial analysis provided by PERC is redundant and unnecessary and an expense the commonwealth does not need,” he said.

The commission has four employees and one temporary employee, said executive director James McAneny.

Mr. Sheridan said the Office of Administration is working to help employees who want to continue working for the state find other jobs.

Mr. McAneny said he had not been advised of a plan to close the commission, but noting the line-item veto, he said such a move did not come as a surprise. He said he would be concerned about the work the commission does in reviewing the thousands of municipal pension plans in the state.

Mr. Sheridan said the administration believes those functions can be performed by the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System.

The Commission’s website can be viewed here.

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