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Pensions Now!
By: Tim Quinn
Democratic Candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates District
37B
With the State of Maryland the third wealthiest state in the nation
with a $1.7 billion surplus and rising, it's time for our Governor
and State Legislators to address and enhance our teachers' and service
personnel's pension program.
The Maryland pension program for our teachers and support personnel
ranks dead last. 50th! If you include Puerto Rico and Guam we give
our teachers and support personnel the proud distinction of being
52nd. If that's not enough, if you look at our pensions for state
legislators, state troopers and other state employees, our educators'
and support personnel's pension benefits are the worst in the Maryland
state system. Not only are these facts alarming, how we fail to
respect our teachers' and support personnel's retirement is appalling.
We need more than stop-gap measures. We need to begin to fill the
gap
.
Retired teachers in Pennsylvania will receive a pension benefit
of 75% of their average final salary and it is tax free. Maryland's
retired teachers will receive a pension benefit of 38% of their
average salary and they must pay taxes on it. According to my campaign's
listening tour, a topped ranked educator informed me that there
is a 10% annual attrition rate for teachers just in Talbot County
alone. Multiply that over a five year period. Our teachers and support
personnel need our help; our children need a more stable environment.
Our Maryland State legislators will be asked to begin to fill this
pension gap in our next legislative session with a defined benefit
package initiated by the Maryland State Teachers Association(MSTA).
We must strongly support their request. Defined benefit pension
plans give employees a fixed amount of money at retirement, guarantee
a certain monthly benefit for life based on salary and years of
service, and help keep our good teachers in our Maryland classrooms
where we and our children need them. Embrace your teachers by embracing
MSTA's pension legislation and you will be embracing the stability
and quality of your child's future.
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