House advances bipartisan solvency bill

The state House of Representative recently voted to advance a bill that creates a bipartisan Keystone Solvency Operating Study (SOS) Commission to improve the state’s financial standing and outlook.

House Bill 120 would establish a bipartisan, legislative commission tasked with analyzing past and projected economic conditions and risk factors regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the unfunded obligations of public pension plans and post-employment benefits, school districts, and municipalities.

The commission would be given 12 months to conduct the study and report the findings and its recommendations to the governor and General Assembly.

“It would examine lessons learned from coronavirus mitigation efforts – most notably the impact of the statewide shutdown,” Rep. Frank Ryan (R-Lebanon), who sponsored the bill, said. “The study would also ensure that the priority of financial claims is understood within the framework of the Constitution of Pennsylvania. My bill would enable us to track economic trends here at home and across the country. We cannot take for granted that a state cannot go bankrupt as some are tracking in that direction, but we can learn from mistakes made here and in other states and work hard to avoid them.”

The bill moves to the Senate for consideration.