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Patrick signs pension overhaul

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 16, 2009 01:05 PM

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick signed a law this afternoon that will end some of the most egregious pension abuses that have plagued the Massachusetts state retirement system for decades.

Governor Deval Patrick

“Welcome to a day we’ve been waiting for for a decade or more,” Patrick told a room packed with legislators, aides, and reporters.

Lawmakers hope the overhaul will repair at least some of the damage inflicted on Beacon Hill by a series of controversies. The retirement reform follows a recent series of Globe stories that revealed how public officials had enhanced their pensions by exploiting special provisions in state pension law.

“Today we answer the public’s call for real reform to our pension system,” said Senate President Therese Murray.

“I, quite frankly, think it’s a giant step,” said House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo.

Patrick then signed the bill and passed out ceremonial pens to lawmakers.

But any celebration was quickly tempered by questions over why lawmakers have chosen to end one series of perks -- pension loopholes for a handful of state employees -- but continue to endorse others -- special holidays granted to state employees in Suffolk County.

Many workers won’t be required to work tomorrow, on Bunker Hill Day, even as the state Legislature confronts a bevy of weighty policy issues, including reforms to the state’s ethics and transportation laws.

The Legislature recently voted to retain two holidays -- Bunker Hill Day, celebrated June 17, and Evacuation Day, March 17 -- that are only granted in Suffolk County, where an estimated 35,000 employees get the day off. All state employees are granted two floating days off.

Republicans seized on the issue as an excess at a time when the state needs to save money.

"This issue isn't going away," said House Minority Leader Bradley Jones. "It symbolizes perfectly the disconnect between this building and the public."

State lawmakers characterized the pension legislation as a first step, one that largely addresses the symbolic abuses that resonate in the public, and they vowed to make further changes in the future that could save the state substantial money. The legislation calls for establishing a commission to review broader changes and issue a report by Sept. 1.

The changes to the state's pension laws would apply to both current and future state workers. The Globe reported in May that, under existing law, nearly half of the 200-member Legislature was on track to be eligible for early, enhanced pensions potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each. The law signed today will apply to all current employees who retire after July 1.

Some of the other changes that lawmakers have agreed on include:

- Removing a provision that credits a full year of service to employees after they have worked as little as one day in that year.

- Preventing elected officials from claiming a "termination allowance" that has been granted after they have failed to win reelection.

- Changing the current accidental disability retirement benefit for individuals who are injured while temporarily filing in for their supervisor. Some firefighters in Boston have collected pension benefits based on their bosses' higher pay level after they were injured on the job while subbing for them.

- Limiting the definition of "compensation" to wages and salary and specifically excluding housing benefits, annuities, or the use of motor vehicles. This would prevent presidents at the state's public colleges and universities from counting housing and transportation allowances as compensation.

- Eliminating a current provision that allows certain officials to establish pension credits for holding unpaid jobs.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.