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Committee accepts Bailey
amendment to close retire-rehire loophole
An unintended loophole in
state law allowing retired teachers in the TRS-1 pension plan to return
to work full time while collecting their retirement checks got a better
chance of being closed today, said
Rep. Barbara Bailey. That’s because
the House Appropriations Committee today unanimously accepted Bailey’s
amendment to House Bill 1326 which seeks to stop the abuses created by
the retire-rehire loophole.
"When the Legislature
acted in 2001 to ease decades-old retirement restrictions for some
teachers and state and local government workers, it never intended to
make it an opportunity for someone to retire and then step right back
into their old job. It never intended for teachers to double-dip by
collecting full-time pay and their retirement checks at the same time,"
said Bailey, R-Oak Harbor. "We need a system that is fair for all state
employees – one that also responds to the public’s demand for
accountability. That’s what this amendment will do."
For years, a retiree’s pension checks would stop if he or she returned
to public employment in Washington for more than five months a year.
Bailey said the 2001 law was adopted in response to a labor shortage
during a booming economy. It allowed retired teachers in the TRS-1
pension plan to return to work full-time, losing only three months of
retirement checks, instead of seven. Within 15 months after the law took
effect, nearly 1,900 public employees had retired and been rehired.
Nearly 700 went back to work at half-time or more. Some even received
salary increases after returning to work.
In 2003, the Legislature approved Bailey’s bill, which increased the
time of separation, required agencies to document shortages before they
could hire a retiree, and banned verbal agreements that a worker could
come back. The changes were to apply to teachers and state workers.
However, Gov. Gary Locke vetoed the section applying to teachers.
Last year, she sponsored
House Bill 2640 to close the gap Locke created with the veto. The
measure received a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee, but
was not allowed to receive a vote before the cut-off deadline.
"That’s why this action
today is even more significant. House Bill 1326 is very similar to the
measure I prime-sponsored last year. However, it would have allowed
retirees to work up five years without a pension penalty," said Bailey.
"The amendment I offered today pares that down to three years, making it
nearly identical to last year’s bill."
"This restores the
original intent of the law – to allow retirees to be rehired only on a
limited basis when shortages exist – and to make it fair and equal to
everyone," concluded Bailey.
The bill now goes to the
House Rules Committee for further consideration.
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John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
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