Legislator wants to retool retire-rehire law for public workers to avoid misuse

OLYMPIA — State Sen. Karen Fraser yesterday introduced legislation to prevent state and local government employees from misusing a law that makes it more lucrative for retirees to return to public jobs.

The law, which allows skilled retirees to return to their old jobs while still collecting their pension, was intended to help schools and government agencies meet worker shortages.

But Fraser said she has heard complaints that there has been "favoritism" and that some government officials are using the law to land big pay increases.

Fraser, a Democrat whose Olympia district includes tens of thousands of state employees, said she's heard an unusual amount of criticism about the law, which took effect in 2001.

"Some people think it's very unfair," she said.

The Seattle Times on Sunday ran a story about the mounting controversy over the state's so-called retire-rehire law.

The story focused in particular on Dennis Cooper, who retired in April from his $9,064-a-month job as the state's chief code reviser. Cooper's supervisors did not advertise the opening. Without having to compete for the job, Cooper was hired back a month later and began collecting both a paycheck and his full pension.

Fraser, whose bill was drafted before the Times story ran, said she will push for changes aimed at preventing such cases.

"I've been concerned about this for quite a while," Fraser said.

She said she still supports the retire-rehire law but thinks changes are needed to make sure it is used as intended. She said agencies should rehire retirees only as a "last resort" after they are unable to hire anyone qualified for a particular job.

Fraser's new legislation, Senate Bill 5454, was co-sponsored by Sen. Don Carlson, R-Vancouver and chairman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Pension Policy.

Lawmakers two years ago nearly doubled the number of hours that many government retirees can work and still collect pension payments. The law allows members of the state's two oldest pension plans — PERS 1 and TERS 1 — to collect both paycheck and pension for up to 1,500 hours, or nine months, each year. The maximum pension for 30 years of service is 60 percent of an employee's top two-year average salary.

Since the changes went into effect, more than 1,000 teachers, school administrators, state employees and local-government workers have retired and then returned to the public payroll.

Under the law, employees who retire have to leave their jobs for at least a month before being rehired. Fraser's legislation would increase that to 90 days for people who retire from state and local government, but not teachers.

Fraser said she thinks the requirement would make it harder for people to retire and return to the same position. She said she has heard of too many people retiring but never fully leaving their jobs.

Fraser said she also is concerned that when some top-level officials are brought back after retirement, it prevents qualified workers from moving up.

She also wants to instill more accountability. Her bill would require all agencies to develop a written policy on rehiring retirees and mandate that all rehires be approved by the agency head.

The bill would require agencies to keep detailed public records showing what recruiting process was used each time a retiree is rehired.

That way, Fraser said, "the power of embarrassment" might keep agencies from misusing the law.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com.