| ► Associated Press - 12/29/01 - Double-dipping law isn't a prohibition, bill's sponsor says |
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Associated Press - Columbus, Ohio By Terry Kinney - Dec. 29, 2001
Double-dipping law isn't a prohibition, bill's sponsor says CINCINNATI -- Some Ohio officials continue to collect a salary and pension at the same time, despite legislation that attempted to address such double dipping.
A new law that took effect five months ago was widely perceived as prohibiting double dipping. But Rep. Jean Schmidt, who sponsored the legislation, said the intent was only to make voters aware of the practice.
Schmidt, a Loveland Republican, cited the example of judges who retired just after winning re-election -- staying off the bench long enough to start getting a pension but then earning their salary when their new term began.
When several judges took that route last year, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court said the practice was legal but "has the appearance of working the system.''
Schmidt said her legislation required judges who planned to retire and then "unretire'' to declare their intent before the election.
"It was so voters would know upfront and could decide whether they wanted that to continue,'' Schmidt said. "If the voter was content with that, so was I.''
The legislation also does not bar public employees from retiring and returning to appointed positions.
Last week, the board of education for Delaware City Schools agreed to let the superintendent retire Dec. 31 and return to the job Jan. 1.
In two months, he'll start collecting retirement benefits of about $4,200 month.
Confusion about the legislation might have resulted from the bill's title.
It says it's an act to prohibit an elected official from receiving a Public Employees Retirement System pension while earning a salary for the same public office.
Then it lists several exceptions and gives instructions on how to collect a salary and pension in the same job.
David Palmer, 57, a self-appointed judicial watchdog in Powell, said he was invited to testify during hearings on the bill.
"It was my understanding it would eliminate a judge from double dipping. That's exactly what I was told,'' Palmer said.
So did Rep. William Ogg, D-Sciotoville, the ranking Democrat on the Retirement and Aging Committee.
"What the bill does -- and about the only thing it does -- is forbid you from retiring and repeating in the same position in the same office,'' Ogg said yesterday.
That is not the case, said Aristotle Hutras, director of the Ohio Retirement Study Council, an agency that advises the legislature on pension policy.
"It provides criteria and rules for re-employment,'' Hutras said.
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