HB 1829-S - DIGEST

(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

Establishes regulations for postretirement employment in the public employees' retirement system and the teachers' retirement system.

VETO MESSAGE ON HB 1829-S

May 20, 2003

To the Honorable Speaker and Members,

The House of Representatives of the State of Washington

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am returning herewith, without my approval as to sections 1 and 2, Substitute House Bill No. 1829 entitled:

"AN ACT Relating to postretirement employment in the public employees' retirement system and the teachers' retirement system;"

This bill would impose new standards and procedures for rehiring members of the Teachers Retirement System and the Public Employees Retirement System who have retired from public employment.

I initially proposed the retire-rehire legislation in 2001 to address the shortage of qualified teachers and school administrators. Prior to this law, the Teachers Retirement System penalized experienced teachers by limiting them to 30 years of retirement service credit, even if they taught longer than that.

Section 1 would make it a felony for a member of the Teachers Retirement System to enter into an oral or written agreement to resume employment after retirement. While I appreciate the intent of the Legislature to prohibit employees and employers from entering into private handshake deals, the penalty in this section is significantly more severe than the penalty for similar acts committed by members of the Public Employees Retirement System. Therefore, I am vetoing section 1.

Section 2 would provide new standards and procedures for the future employment of retirees within the public school system. I strongly support those accountability provisions. However, section 2 would also place an artificial "lifetime limit" on the number of hours that a retired member of the system could work after being rehired, and would make that limit retroactive. The retroactive lifetime limit will place an unreasonable recruitment burden on school districts facing significant shortages of qualified teachers and principals. We must protect the ability of school districts to provide for the education of our children, and trust their locally elected school boards to properly administer the retire-rehire law. Therefore, I am vetoing section 2.

While I am not vetoing Section 4, which would make it a gross misdemeanor for a member of the Public Employees Retirement System to enter into an oral or written agreement to resume employment after retirement, I am concerned that the language of the section is flawed and therefore almost impossible to prosecute under. I believe the Legislature should consider legislation to perfect the language to make the elements of the crime clear and to place the language into RCW 41.40.055, which is the section dealing with pension fraud for this retirement system.

For these reasons, I have vetoed sections 1 and 2 of Substitute House Bill No. 1829.

With the exception of sections 1 and 2, Substitute House Bill No. 1829 is approved.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary Locke

Governor