SC pension fix with 9% cap for public workers heads to House

The S.C. House’s budget panel unanimously approved a proposed solution Thursday to the state’s ailing pension system, which is roughly $20 billion in debt.

The full S.C. House could consider the plan as soon as next week.

The plan would raise the amount deducted from the paychecks of public-sector workers for their retirement to 9 percent of their wages, up from 8.7 percent, and cap it at that level.

Meanwhile, S.C. House budget writers are considering putting an added $160 million into the pension system. That money, from the state’s $8 billion general fund budget, would pay up to half of the higher contributions that public-sector employers — including cities, counties and schools — will have to pay into the pension system.

If the pension system bailout plan is approved, those public-sector employers, financed by taxpayers, would start paying 13.6 percent of each employee’s pay toward their retirement costs starting on July 1. That rate — now 11.6 percent — would increase to 18.6 percent over the next six years.

Lawmakers propose to pay the full added costs of employer contributions for state agencies in the budget.

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "SC pension fix with 9% cap for public workers heads to House."