On Tuesday, Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 68, a bill that finally puts an end to legislative pension-spiking. Idaho Freedom Foundation Vice President Fred Birnbaum offered brief remarks at the signing, which took place in the governor's ceremonial office.

Here are Birnbaum's remarks:

Thank you, Gov. Little, for the invitation to speak at this signing ceremony. It’s an honor to be here today.

I will be brief.

There are a few people who worked incredibly long and hard to bring this bill to the governor’s desk. They deserve recognition and our gratitude.

First, we at the Idaho Freedom Foundation thank former House member Dennis Lake. He first sounded the alarm on pension-spiking nearly a decade ago.

Next, we applaud the members of the Citizens Committee on Legislative Compensation. Their decision at last November’s meeting wasn’t easy, but they possessed the moral courage to make the right choice.

Rep. Steven Harris, who is with us today, also deserves our gratitude. He persevered on the pension-spiking issue, and we recognize his hard work on this legislation.

Finally, we thank the Idaho Freedom Foundation donors and supporters who helped us research and publicize pension-spiking’s myriad problems. We stand here today because of them.

This is a great bill, soon to be law, one that protects taxpayers. This bill also ensures that public servants do just that—serve the public, not game the system to get rich.

The Idaho Freedom Foundation first revealed the pension-spiking problem in 2010 and has written dozens of articles about the scheme since then.