HARRISBURG, PA – Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) Executive Director Glen Grell issued the following statement today.
“I want to thank Governor Wolf for his continued commitment and support of PSERS and our members. For the fourth year in a row, the Governor has proposed fully funding PSERS actuarially required amount of employer contributions in fiscal year (FY) 2019/2020. The Governor’s proposed budget supports school districts in making the employer contributions necessary to pay down existing pension debt. These contributions are making a positive difference for PSERS and the nearly half a million active and retired public school employees who depend on PSERS for their retirement benefit.
PSERS reached a major funding turning point in FY 2017/2018 due in part to the Governor’s commitment to and the General Assembly’s support of fully funding the actuarially required employer contributions. PSERS funded ratio, on an actuarial basis, improved one year earlier than expected. Future funded ratio projections are now expected to slowly and steadily improve, reversing years of decline since 2000.”
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About the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System
PSERS is the 15th largest state-sponsored defined benefit public pension fund in the nation. As of September 30, 2018, PSERS had net assets of approximately $54 billion and a membership of over 256,000 active school employees and over 233,000 retirees.