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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Destiny Zeiders |
State Rep. Peter J. Daley |
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Early retirement bills supported by western Pa. lawmakers
Cheers of support heard throughout Capitol as Daley introduces 30-and-Out legislation
HARRISBURG, April 19 -- Cheers of “30 and Out” could be heard in the state Capitol yesterday as state Rep. Peter J. Daley exhorted a crowd of teachers and state employees at his “Rally in the Rotunda for Retirement.”
“Our primary objective here is to create jobs and keep our young people in Pennsylvania. With both bills combined, 14,000 new jobs will be given back to the state. Right now, we are lagging being and exporting our youth all over the country to find jobs. We want them to stay here and raise their families,” Daley said.
Joining Daley on the Rotunda steps in support of the two bills were western Pennsylvania Reps. Tim Solobay, Deberah Kula, Mark Longietti, Jarret Gibbons and Ted Harhai, as well as another dozen Democratic and Republican legislators from across the state, and Wes Johnson, president of SEIU local 668. Longietti and Johnson joined Daley at the speaker’s podium. The bills have a total of 60 cosponsors.
Kula said, “I’ve seen too many young people in my area leave for North Carolina, Nevada and other states because they could not find a job. At the same time, retirees want to transition into other careers or retire, but are unable.”
“This is a win-win situation because it would allow teachers and state employees who are ready to leave the system to do so and create jobs for our young people while saving money in the form of lower starting salaries for new employees,” Solobay said.
SEIU’s Johnson said, “We support these bills and are eager to work shoulder to shoulder with Representative Daley and other members to get this legislation passed.”
Daley explained that H.B. 230 is an early retirement bill for teachers and H.B. 231 is an early retirement bill for the state employees. The proposal requires two separate bills because of the different administrative provisions in each.
Harhai said, “This bill has three distinct benefits: it gives our veteran teachers peace of mind so they can retire when they’re ready to move on or end their careers; it opens doors for our young teachers, many of whom were educated in Pennsylvania colleges, but otherwise might need to leave the state to find a job; and it provides budgetary relief for school districts by bringing in younger teachers at a lower salary.”
Both bills would offer two-year “windows” and early retirement without penalty. Criteria for the early retirement would be either 30 or more years of service, or a combination of age and years of service equal to 80. The two window target dates are March 1 to June 1 in both 2008 and 2009.
“They always say ‘the third time’s a charm,’” Daley said, noting that this is the third consecutive session that he has introduced legislation aimed at early retirement.
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