Newspaper: Lawmakers explicitly, credibly warned of pension mess

The permanent political class in Harrisburg is trying to pretend it did not know that state taxpayers would get stuck with a massive bill after the Legislature granted itself and teachers huge increases in guaranteed pensions.

Don't buy their excuses, argues the Reading Eagle.

From a new editorial:

Our lawmakers played the stock market nine years ago, and Pennsylvania taxpayers are on the hook.

Dead ahead are potentially $8 billion in pension obligations to public school teachers, state employees and, of course, the General Assembly.

What most galls about this situation is the defense offered by lawmakers who voted for it: We didn't know the gun was loaded. It was the financial advisers' fault.

"They were telling us that we had all this excess money," state Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone told the Reading Eagle recently. "You want to help your constituents, the school districts, the school employees and the state employees. Who's going to vote against that?"

Well, there was one person with a high degree of credibility who was warning against the increase.

"Some future governor, some future General Assembly, some future school board will have to pay the consequences for what we've done today," then-state Rep. Steve Nickol, R-Hanover, said.

This was after Nickol had told any reporter or lawmaker who asked for his opinion that the pension boost was both risky and unnecessary.

Nickol retired last year after not seeking re-election in 2008.

Read the full editorial below:

Lawmakers explicitly, credibly warned of pension mess (6/7/10)