A state Senate committee on Monday approved a bill that would reduce retirement benefits or increase paycheck contributions for most state and public school workers, the first step toward legislative floor votes expected this week on the headliner issues of overhauling the pension and property tax systems. With a party-line vote, the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee endorsed a measure that also would close the traditional pension system to new hires, enrolling them instead in a defined-contribution plan. In the House, the Republican leader’s office said members today will take up proposals designed to shift the burden of paying for schools from locally assessed property taxes to increases in the sales and personal income taxes. Both House Republicans and Gov. Tom Wolf have offered plans with that general outline, but the Republicans complain that Mr. Wolf would direct some revenue from the rate increases to other projects.

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Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, By Karen Langley, May 12, 2015; PA Ed Policy Roundup, May 12, 2015.