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Bailey says TV news story
reveals problems with existing law
Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak
Harbor, said today that the people of Washington deserve responsible
retire/rehire legislation to make the system fair for all state
employees and to respond to the public’s demand for accountability and
fairness.
“That’s why this year I prime-sponsored House Bill 2640—to finish the
work I started last session to tighten the Washington retire/rehire law
to preclude abuses of what is fast becoming a popular retiree option,”
said Bailey. “Last night’s TV news story shows just how popular it has
become with school employees and just how costly it can be for
taxpayers.”
Bailey said her legislation was referred to the House Appropriations
Committee early this session. “The Committee Chair gave the bill a
hearing but refused to allow a vote on the measure to move it to the
House floor before the cut-off deadline,” said Bailey. “I’m reminded how
important this legislation is when I think about the rancorous budget
debates we’re having right now,” continued Bailey. “House Bill 2640
would allow us to close an unfair and costly loophole in the state law,
stop abuses associated with this popular retiree option and make it work
better for everyone, including teachers and school administrators.”
Bailey’s legislation would address the perceived improprieties
illustrated in last night’s TV news coverage by: ensuring a person is
really and truly retired before being rehired into a similar position;
giving consideration to all qualified candidates—retired and
non-retired—to help find the best person for tough-to-fill education
jobs; prohibiting state employees from retiring with a written or verbal
agreement only to be rehired into a similar position; and ensuring a
person must be retired for a certain amount of time—in most cases about
a month and a half—before being rehired into the same position, in order
to work more hours during the year and keep retirement benefits.
The new law Bailey helped pass last session will prohibit some state
employees from retiring with a written or verbal agreement to be rehired
into a similar position. “But by vetoing part of my legislation, the
governor gave people half a law. Now the system works better for some
state employees but not teachers and school administrators, as we saw in
last night’s news coverage.”
Bailey said she wants to fix the problem that still exists and address
the disparity between state workers. “It doesn’t make sense to have one
standard for teachers and education professionals and another for all
other state workers in the process by which they can be rehired.”
Bailey recalls the original purpose of Washington’s retire/rehire law
was to allow retired educators to become involved again with state
employment, if they were needed because open positions couldn’t be
filled with non-retired personnel.
“I worked to pass my legislation last session, and again this session,
because the law is being used differently by state employees,” said
Bailey. “And amazingly enough, in these incidents of perceived
improprieties, the individuals involved appear to be abiding by the
letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law.”
“The legislation I helped pass last session clarifies state law and
makes it work better for some state employees. But as we saw on TV last
night, we still must make it work better for teachers and school
administrators,” said Bailey. “There are 11 days left in our 60-day
session and I haven’t given up on seeing this important legislation gets
the attention it deserves.”
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For more information, contact:
John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
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