Legislature upholds measures raising police pensions in revote

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) The Legislature on Friday voted to uphold measures it previously passed aimed at raising pensions for policemen, firefighters and other law enforcement and emergency services workers, rejecting the Cabinet's bid to overturn the legislation.

Lawmakers from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP), who together form a majority in the Legislature, once again endorsed the amendments to the Police Personnel Management Act they adopted in January.

The vote was 62-50 with one abstention, breaking along party lines in the current 113-seat Legislature.

Following Friday's revote, the bill now awaits President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) to sign it into law.

The Cabinet requested the revote earlier this month, arguing that the revisions would "impact the financial stability" of the public service pension system and undermine its fairness, and subsequently affect the rights of both acting and retired public servants.

The amendments include a measure that raises the income replacement rate for retired police officers, firefighters, immigration officers, and personnel in the Coast Guard and the National Air Service Corps to as high as 80 percent.

This 80 percent rate exceeds the previous 75 percent cap that retired civil servants were eligible for prior to the 2017 pension reforms introduced under former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and will be applied to all retirees in those occupations.

Currently, the pension plans for law enforcement and emergency services personnel are the same as other public servants, with the cap on the income replacement rate set to gradually decrease to 60 percent by 2029. It is currently at 66 percent.

The Ministry of Civil Services have said the new measures would increase the financial burden facing the public service pension system, which is already strained by decreased revenues.

The system is expected to have an estimated shortfall of NT$170 billion (US$5.18 billion) over the next 50 years and this amount will eventually fall on all taxpayers, the ministry said in January.

Opposition lawmakers argued, however, that pension plans for law enforcement and emergency services personnel should be adjusted to levels comparable to those for military personnel, citing the high pressure they face due to high-risk duties and long, rotating work hours.

TPP lawmaker Chang Chi-kai (張啓楷) said ahead of the revote that the high-risk nature of police and firefighting work results in an average life expectancy five to 10 years shorter than that of the general population.

Chang criticized the DPP government for failing to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of these officers and firefighters.

Friday's vote marked the Cabinet's sixth failed attempt to reject legislation which it had opposed after being passed by the opposition-led Legislature over the past 10 months.

The executive body may -- with the president's approval -- request a legislative revote on legislation lawmakers have passed, if it considers such a law "difficult to implement," as per Article 3-2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China.

For the legislation to be upheld, more than half of all lawmakers -- or 57 votes in the current Legislature -- must vote in favor in a revote, or that law will be annulled automatically.