Committee advances Conklin bill to help public employee retirement plans operate more efficiently

Would adjust financial testing, reporting deadlines to better align with fiscal year

Rep. Scott Conklin    October 28, 2025 | 10:43 AM

HARRISBURG, Oct. 28 –The House State Government Committee today unanimously approved state Rep. Scott Conklin’s bill that would improve operations for Pennsylvania’s public employee retirement plans by providing more feasible deadlines for the agencies to complete and submit the results of required annual financial testing.

Conklin, D-Centre, said he introduced H.B. 1304 in response to a request from the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System and its sister agency, the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, to adjust the deadlines so they better align with the agencies’ annual fiscal year.

“Government runs more efficiently when timetables and deadlines are based on real-world logistics,” Conklin said. “Currently, state law requires SERS and PSERS to perform annual stress testing to assess the financial health and resiliency of their pension funds based on different scenarios. The law also sets deadlines for the agencies to complete and submit those tests to state officials, and a deadline for the Independent Fiscal Office to summarize the results into a report.

“The problem is that the state-mandated testing and reporting deadlines are not workable. For example, SERS already conducts more rigorous testing than required by state law and has advised that it cannot deliver its comprehensive report by the required July 1 deadline. Both SERS and the IFO have stated that more time is required to maximize the report’s value. My bill would provide that time by moving the deadlines for testing and reporting back by three months, to better align with the agencies’ actual practices.”

Conklin’s legislation would move the deadline for SERS to complete and submit its testing from July 1 to Oct. 1 and the deadline for IFO to produce a summarizing report from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1.

For PSERS, the testing and submission deadline would be moved from Jan. 1 to April 1, and the IFO report deadline would be moved from March 1 to June 1.

The bill – which was approved by a vote of 26-0 – now moves to the full House for consideration.