Mazzo v. Board of Pensions & Retirement of Philadelphia

I conclude that the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act, 43 P.S. § 1311 et seq., does not preempt Philadelphia’s municipal ordinance prohibiting payment of benefits to employees who have not been reinstated to their positions after dismissal due to the filing of criminal charges. I would affirm the Commonwealth Court’s decision denying pension benefits to the Appellants.

Preemption of the field by the General Assembly is the exception and not the rule. Council of Middletown Township v. Benham, 514 Pa. 176, 523 A.2d 311 (1987). We must exercise restraint, therefore, in determining whether…