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"Double-Dipping" for Retired and Re-employed Public Employees On Chopping Block

(FROM the SERS newsletter)

On December 1, 2011, Rep. Rex Damschroder of Fremont introduced H.B. 388, which proposes suspending the retirement benefit of public retirement system retirees who return to public employment.

The intent of the bill was to address so-called "double-dipping," the term used when public employees retire, begin receiving a pension, and then return to public employment to collect both a pension and a paycheck.

The bill proposes deferring a reemployed retiree's pension into an account maintained by the retirement system during the time the person is reemployed. This would prevent a reemployed retiree from receiving a pension and a paycheck at the same time. Once the person retires from public service, the deferred pension money that accumulates in the account while the person was reemployed would be refunded either as a lump sum or monthly annuity.

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