Sept. 30 will bring the first larger pension checks to Pennsylvania teachers and other public servants who retired before July 1, 2001, after the state approved benefit increases of 15% to 25%.
The raises target a long-running gap created by 2001 Act 9 reforms, which lifted pensions for later retirees; a 30-year teacher retiring before the change received 60% of salary versus 75% afterward.
An $18,000 annual pension will rise by about $225 to $368 a month depending on retirement date, and Lancaster County alone is expected to see more than $4 million a year flow to over 1,200 retired teachers.
The increase follows years of union lobbying and marks Pennsylvania's first pension cost-of-living adjustment in more than two decades, with advocates already pushing to make regular COLAs permanent for all retirees.