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Lawmaker Proposes Statewide Pension Plan for Local Police

One state lawmaker is proposing to create a statewide pension plan for municipal police officers.
    
The plan would not include automatic boosts in benefits known as cost-of-living adjustments and would mandate a 7.5 percent contribution from members.

Republican state Rep. Glen Grell of Cumberland County, head of the House GOP pension reform task force, said the statewide pension plan would only be optional for current local officers.

"It would be mandatory for any new municipal police officers anywhere in the state, and it would be optional for plans that want to convert into the statewide fund," Grell said.

The pension plan would remain as a defined-benefit plan offering a set payout at the end of an officer’s tenure.

The commonwealth has a vast constellation of municipal pension plans, and police have their own separate offshoot funds numbering around 900.
    
Grell says consolidating those plans would save money for municipalities.
    
He added the majority of their police pension plans contain fewer than 10 members.