Mass. chambers agree on pension changes

BOSTON – The Mass. House and Senate reached an agreement last week on a package of bills aimed at eliminating provisions that allowed some public officials to receive sweetened pensions, The Boston Globe reported last week.
Both chambers were slated to vote June 11 on the revised plan, likely resolving a dispute with Gov. Deval L. Patrick, The Globe reported.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo was also expected to drop his position of having the reforms apply only to future employees – and not to current public officials, Patrick and the Senate argued that the changes should also apply to current elected officials and government employees.
House and Senate lawmakers were still working on final language of the bills last week, but agreed on the general concepts, The Globe reported.
The legislation was expected to remove a provision that credits employees with a full year of service after working as little as one day in a year. The legislation was also expected to limit the definition of the word “compensation” to only wages and salary, specifically excluding housing benefits and motor vehicle use. &#8226