The Glendening administration has endorsed a proposal to significantly boost pensions for tens of thousands of state workers, whose benefits are among the lowest in the nation for government employees.
Representatives of Gov. Parris N. Glendening joined a majority of the state retirement board, which voted 10-2 yesterday to support the pension improvements.
The matter now must be considered by the General Assembly when it meets in January.
The proposal endorsed yesterday would boost pension benefits significantly for most of the 134,000 employees in the system -- in some cases by as much as 75 percent.
Some key legislators, including House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr., already are on record in support of a major pension boost, and others will surely endorse a proposal appealing to thousands of state workers in an election year.
But the plan has generated opposition from some officials who say the state cannot afford such an enhancement and who worry that it would threaten Maryland's top-notch bond rating.
A recent comparison by the Maryland State Retirement Agency found that the pension plan covering most state workers, teachers and some other local employees provides the lowest retirement benefits of 47 state plans for teachers surveyed, and next to last among 46 plans for nonteaching employees.
Glendening would support pension improvements during the upcoming legislative session, said his budget secretary, Frederick W. Puddester, who sits on the board and voted for the plan yesterday.
"The administration would support a prudently financed enhancement to pensions if passed by the General Assembly," Puddester said.
Also voting for the proposal from the administration were David B. Mitchell, who heads the state police, and Nancy S. Grasmick, state schools superintendent.
The administration's support for the plan "completely surprised" state Treasurer Richard N. Dixon, who voted against the proposal.
"I think it was fiscally irresponsible," he said.
Dixon said he believes the plan threatens the state's AAA bond rating.
Karl K. Pence, president of the Maryland State Teachers Association, praised the board's vote. "They made the right decision for an equitable and enhanced pension benefit," he said.
To help pay for the benefits improvement, employees would contribute 3 percent of their salary to their retirement. They now contribute nothing.
