newjerseynewsroom.com

State Senators Jennifer Beck (R- Monmouth) and Steve Oroho (R- Sussex) have introduced legislation aimed at ending what they see as an abuse of the state's pension system.

The bill (S-2716) would prohibit retired public employees that return to government service from collecting pension payments while back on the public payroll.

"Pension payments should only be collected by those who have left the government payroll," Beck said Tuesday. "Public employees who game the system by collecting a paycheck and a pension check simultaneously commit the worst kind of double dipping. New Jersey's taxpayers are tapped out, our pension system woefully underfunded, and neither can tolerate this sort of abuse. Nobody should be able to line their pockets in this manner at public expense."

The proposals prohibits any person in the state retirement system from collecting a pension if the individual resumes public employment and is compensated more than $15, 000 annually. Under the bill, those returning to the public payroll after retirement would not accumulate additional pension credits. The bill applies to all state pension plans.

"We must protect New Jersey's pension systems and it is critically important that we protect the qualified status of those pensions, as well as end any unnecessary strains on the funds," Oroho said. "There are a variety of good reasons retirees may wish to return to the workforce. However, for the purposes of collecting a pension, and to protect the qualified status of the plans, retired means retired."

– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM