Senate passes bill aimed at curbing pension abuses

June 1, 2010 5:20 PM PT

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California lawmakers moved Tuesday to address controversy over cases of pension-spiking and double-dipping in which workers retire from one state job on a Friday and start another state job the next Monday.

The state Senate unanimously approved a bill that requires at least a six-month delay for retirees taking a new state job while receiving state pension benefits. The measure, which next goes to the Assembly, also limits the practice of providing pay raises in the last year of service for the purpose of artificially inflating the employees’ pensions.

‘Both of these issues have brought a pension system that was already viewed skeptically by many in the public under particularly harsh criticism,’ said Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), who authored SB 1425. ‘I think frankly we can do something to restore public trust in government.’

-- Patrick McGreevy

Politi-Cal

Patrick McGreevy

Patrick McGreevy covered the California Legislature out of the Sacramento bureau until 2021. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1998 and worked in the City Hall and San Fernando Valley bureaus, writing about subjects including Valley secession, LAPD reform and city government during the administrations of Mayors Richard Riordan, James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa. He is a native of San Diego and a graduate of San Jose State University.