Sasse urges Rhode Island Governor Chafee to veto Teacher retiree rehiring bills

Katherine Gregg:

That is the way Gary Sasse, a top-level official in the Carcieri administration -- and long-time head of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council -- described the front-page news Friday about the Senate's votes a day earlier for bills allowing retirees to return to return to work with state pensions and paychecks.

"It was not that long ago that many of us spoke out against the practice of allowing retired public employees to a collect retirement check while on the state's payroll. Now it appears that the practice may be coming back. Situational expediency should not trump sound personnel practices. Based on Rhode Island history this could be a dangerous precedent,'' wrote Sasse in an email.

Now the director of the Bryant University's Institute for Public Leadership, Sasse was commenting on the Senate's approval of a bill to allow up to 50 retired school teachers and administrators to work as $500-a-day consultants to the Department of Education, without giving up their pensions. The sponsor: state Sen. Hanna Gallo, a speech pathologist in the Cranston school system.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 12, 2011 1:59 AM
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