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O’Malley To Push For Split In Teacher Pension Costs

January 19th, 2012 by WCBC Radio

What a difference a year makes. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, after strongly opposing efforts to shift the cost of teacher pensions to local governments, now says he will push for the cost to be evenly split about $1 billion in teacher pension costs, much to the dismay of county officials who say the move will exacerbate their budget problems. The governor, as part of his budget presented this week, will call for an immediate 50-50 split. Maryland is one of just three states that pay the entirety of teacher pension benefits without help from counties. Its annual payouts have skyrocketed in the past decade, to nearly $1 billion. Officials from the state’s 23 counties and Baltimore have long resisted cost sharing on grounds it could worsen local shortfalls and force severe cuts. Delegate Wendell Beitzel says that momentum toward a shared funding has been gaining in Annapolis for several years…





 

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