Senate committee reviews technical pension corrections in Senate Bill 42

Senator Pardee introduced Senate Bill 42 to the Delaware Senate Executive Committee as a technical cleanup to pension language affecting magistrates and other court personnel. Pat Wood of the JP Court told the committee the changes correct what he described as drafting errors that produced potential IRS tax ramifications.

The bill sponsor and witnesses told the committee the changes are largely technical and carry no fiscal impact. "Folks that were, like myself, and people that, came on after 2012, were contributing 5% and changed to 4%. Evidently, that is what created the problem," said Pat Wood of the JP Court. Wood said the bill would return contribution percentages to the levels in place before the drafting change.

Robert Overmiller, who testified during the public-comment portion, told the committee he had reviewed the legislation and supported it: "I see no problems with this legislation, so I support this legislation." No committee vote was recorded at the meeting; committee leadership said they would circulate Senate Bill 42 for further consideration.

The committee took no formal action on the bill during the meeting. Committee members asked personnel who worked on the earlier statute to be available to answer follow-up technical questions if needed. The committee record indicated no fiscal impact was reported when the bill was presented.