Another Effort To Close Pension Loophole Seen

Wednesday, July 18th 2007, 7:33 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A state senator says he will work with state officials to close a loophole that allows some elected officials to reap huge retirement benefits if they previously worked for the county or state.

Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Tulsa, said he will be happy to work with officials of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System to fix the problem. Mazzei tried to close the loophole last year, but withdrew the plan after it was watered down in the House.

Tom Spencer, executive director of OPERS, said Wednesday he would recommended to his board later this year to again support legislation to address the issue, which has permitted some state and county officials to make much more in retirement than they did while in office.

``My intention is to bring it back up and try it again,'' Spencer said.

According to OPERS officials, more than 500 elected officials, mostly at the county level, have received enhanced retirements because they did government work before they were elected.

The group includes some state officials, such as former Auditor and Inspector Clifton Scott, a government employee for 22 years before his election. Scott's annual state pension is nearly $147,000, compared to his $83,510 salary as auditor. Scott worked as secretary of the state Land Office after retirement, earning an additional $77,000 a year.

Another example given on the county level is former Beckham County District Attorney Richard L. Dugger, who made $86,506 as an elected official and now has an annual pension of $130,362.

Neither Scott nor Dugger were involved in passage of a 1988 law that created the high pension payments.

The law permits elected officials to pay 10 percent of their salary into the system for a relatively short period time and allows them to count their prior government service toward their pension benefit, even though they paid into the system at a much lower percentage during that time.

``That loophole needs to be dealt with,'' Mazzei said. ``It certainly seems unfair and over the top.''

Dave Herbert, former senator who now lobbies for the County Government Legislative Council, opposed Mazzei's bill during the 2007 legislative session.

Herbert said he would fight against a new bill if it did not ``grandfather'' in county employees who have worked for low wages for years with the idea of running for elective office at some point.

``In small counties, the salaries of employees is not very much money. One of the things that hold those people on the job is the hope that they may be able to run for office and enjoy the benefits of enhanced retirements,'' he said.

Herbert said he would not oppose a bill that would take effect for new hires at the start of the next fiscal year so ``it would not affect the career track people are on.''