Capitol-week-in-review/Rise of ISIS
Photo by Scott LaMar/WITF
What to look for on Smart Talk Friday, June 16, 2017:
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed historic legislation this week that will have a major impact on the retirement plans of future teachers and state workers. Those hired in 2019 will have retirement savings options to choose from but all include a 401(k)-style plan.
Republicans have put pension reform at the top of their list of legislative priorities for the last few years and the bill signed by Wolf was a bi-partisan effort. However, while taxpayers may not be on the hook for future pension problems, the state still owes more than $60 billion to two pension plans.
The pension reform bill is one of the issues we’ll discuss on Friday’s Smart Talk with WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief Katie Meyer.
Others include the state budget deadline that is two weeks away and a lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters challenging how the state’s Congressional boundaries are drawn.
Also, with so much attention on Russia the last few weeks, we aren’t hearing much about the war against the Islamic State or ISIS. Nothing has really changed while we were looking elsewhere – the terrorist group is said to be on its heels in Iraq but still is holding out in Syria.
How did ISIS become the most feared terrorist organization in the world?
Black Flags – The Rise of ISIS is the Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by Washington Post reporter Joby Warrick. He joins us on Friday’s Smart Talk.
