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Politicians dip into pocketbooks
(by Dave Lange - May 18, 2011)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Politicians dip into pocketbooks
Two years ago I wrote about a friend who lives in Auburn and who was the victim of reverse discrimination by the school board in an inner-ring suburb that was eliminating his position after 38 years of loyal service.
Although I identified my friend at that time, I've decided not to drag his name into another case of discrimination, because he's suffered enough. So I'll just call him Mr. P. But his government representatives, state Rep. Richard Hollington, R-Hunting Valley, and state Sen. Timothy Grendell, R-Chester, don't seem to believe that Mr. P has suffered nearly enough.
Last month, Mr. Hollington introduced Ohio House Bill 202, which could be referred to as the "double-dipper law," because its intent is to slash the income levels of people like Mr. P, who are falsely accused of "double dipping." H.B. 202 would skim $1 from retired public employees' pensions -- to which they paid and are entitled -- for each $2 they earn in wages, if they return to work for a public entity in the same job or a similar one.
According to Mr. Hollington, the new law is necessary to nullify public reaction to "double-dipping" public employees. Mr. Grendell said he supports the legislation, because "double dipping" creates the appearance that people are getting two public benefits for doing one job. In other words, ignorance on the part of the public justifies interference by state politicians against local governments' ability to make their own hiring decisions. That's right, politicians who whine about Washington usurping states' rights are meddling with local rights.
Before his job was taken away in 2009, Mr. P was his district's transportation supervisor for 20 years, and he's been driving school buses throughout his career. So now that he's a bus driver with another school district, Mr. P is doing one of those similar jobs that Mr. Hollington's "double-dipper law" could restrict.
While the public outrage referred to by Mr. Hollington may be directed at much higher-paid positions, such as police chiefs and school superintendents, the meager $14,160 threshold in his bill would cause hardship for school bus drivers and many other hardworking people as well.
Referring to public employees who earn their pensions and earn their wages, if they return to work, Mr. Hollington said, "You don't find that with the private employer." Perhaps he's never heard of the multimillion-dollar golden parachutes bestowed on "retiring" business executives when they leave one private corporation and take a similar position with another one.
Maybe it's irrelevant that 352 members of the U.S. Congress who left office since 1998, most of whom collect pensions from the Federal Employees Retirement System, went on to work as high-paid corporate lobbyists pouring hefty campaign bribes into former colleagues' pockets.
I don't know how the "double-dipper law" might affect American military retirees who collect their well-deserved pensions and return to Ohio to work in government security jobs or with private firms that exist on government contracts. But I know many of them do just that.
Mr. P is not living high on the hog. He's collecting his pension, because he deserves it. And he was rehired, because he's good at what he does. The politicians should keep their hypocritical mitts out of his pocketbook.
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