9% pension rate cap for SC public workers soon could be law

Nine dollars for every $100 that S.C. public workers earn likely will soon go to pay for their pension plan.

The S.C. House passed a proposal that would increase state and local government workers’ contribution rates to 9 percent, up from 8.7, on July 1. The S.C. Senate is set to begin debate on a similar proposal Tuesday.

The higher contribution for S.C. workers at state agencies, cities, counties and school teachers is the first step in state lawmakers’ efforts to begin stabilizing the ailing system. The S.C. Retirement System owes roughly $20 billion promised retirement benefits to those workers.

Next, lawmakers plan to begin discussing offering other retirement options and consider moving away from a pension system. They will also scrutinize the workers that are a part of the pension system and consider closing it off to some new employees.

This story was originally published February 28, 2017 at 2:12 PM with the headline "9% pension rate cap for SC public workers soon could be law."