State lawmakers long have had in their possession proposals from the state pension programs to update and improve the public employee retirement system. The recommendations include several steps for narrowing eligibility and otherwise establishing a stronger financial foundation. Unfortunately, nothing has been achieved, and even Senate Bill 5 would have delivered little in this realm.
Now comes state Rep. Rex Damschroder, a Fremont Republican, clearly out of patience and rightly taking aim at a glaring flaw in the system. He has introduced legislation to end the practice of double dipping.
The bill would bar public employees, including elected officials, from collecting state pensions when they return to work after retirement. The practice hardly rates as rare. Damschroder noted the fury among his constituents at the arrangement. He put straight the appropriate thinking: “Retire means retire. That’s when you get your pension. If you’re not retired, you shouldn’t be collecting a pension.”
William Batchelder, the House speaker, knows well double dipping. According to reports, he collects his pension of more than $100,000 a year, plus his legislative pay of $94,500 a year. Will he press for the Damschroder bill to move forward?
