Montco representatives, educators celebrate pension boost for long-retired public servants
Rep. Steve Malagari October 15, 2026
MONTGOMERYVILLE, Oct. 15 – State Rep. Steve Malagari, along with Reps. Melissa Cerrato, Liz Hanbidge, and Greg Scott, all D-Montgomery, co-hosted an event Monday with the Pennsylvania State Education Association to discuss the long-overdue cost-of-living adjustment for pre-Act 9 retirees the lawmakers worked to get included in the new state budget.
The measures (H.B. 411 and H.B. 1289), both sponsored by Malagari, are granting relief to these long-retired teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public workers who finally received the pension adjustment promised to them more than two decades ago as everyday costs continue to rise.
The legislators were joined at PSEA’s Mideastern Regional Office by two local retired educators: Mary Kieras retired in 1997 after teaching elementary school in Souderton Area School District for 30 years, and Scott Brown is a retired mathematics teacher from Colonial School District.
“From my perspective, this is a huge accomplishment by my PSEA union and my state Rep. Steve Malagari. As soon as I met Rep. Malagari, I knew he would be a champion for public education and an asset to our community – always available and willing to listen,” Brown said. “We’re celebrating doing the right thing for a group of public servants who needed help […] The COLA issue was not the most popular issue. The pre-Act 9 group of public employees is not a politically powerful group. All retirees deserve to live with dignity and financial security.”
“I began advocating for this group of our most senior retired public servants to receive their COLA shortly after taking office in 2018. I’m so proud of everyone who supported this mission, to know we secured pension relief for these retirees that reflects the actual costs they face,” Malagari said. “This victory means we finally did right by nearly 60,000 of our fellow Pennsylvanians who served the commonwealth as public employees. Many of them are now in their 80s, and it’s a relief to know they’re getting the support they deserve after spending their careers serving us.
“Our retired teachers have given decades of service to educate our children and shape the future of our communities. Until this year’s budget, most of these teachers have gone decades managing their expenses on the same income they received upon retirement. A lifetime of dedication to our commonwealth deserves adequate recognition, and I am proud to see our retired teachers receive this long-overdue support.”
“Our communities rely on the dedication of our public servants, who do incredibly important and difficult work without significant financial gain,” said Scott. “We would be at a loss without our police officers, firefighters, teachers, and public workers. It never should have taken this long to bring relief to our long-retired community helpers, and I am so proud to see this adjustment finally realized.”
“Thanks to the leadership of legislators like Rep. Steve Malagari, today more than 34,000 retired educators and public servants have gotten their first raise in their pensions in close to 25 years,” said Aaron Chapin, PSEA president. “Many of these retirees are in their 80s and 90s, struggling to make ends meet amid the skyrocketing costs of housing, gas, groceries, and medicine. Now, these dedicated Pennsylvanians have just a little bit more in their monthly income to help pay the bills, put food on the table, and cover their medical costs.”