Bill description: HB 68 would repeal the statute which allows legislators to spike their pension once they leave the Legislature.

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Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws which discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. Conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?

For several decades, legislators have benefitted from a provision in state law that allows their part-time service in the Legislature to count as full-time service when calculating their pension. Legislators are due pensions for their time in office. But those who, after holding office, work a full-time job with any public employer in the state, can calculate their legislative pension as if they held a full-time job for the entire time. Former legislators who take public jobs often work in a high-paying directorship or government relations position, further increasing their pension payout.

This is a perk that favors well-connected politicians at taxpayers’ expense. Legislators passed this perk for themselves, and no other state employees can benefit from it. Even other part-time elected officials, such as city mayors or county commissioners, are not eligible for this boost to their pensions.

HB 68 would codify the work done by the Citizen’s Council on Legislative Compensation in 2018, which eliminated this perk for legislators elected after law takes effect. The result is that legislators elected after July 1, 2019, would have their service calculated “in the same manner as any other part-time elected or appointed official's credited service is computed.”

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