Unshackle Upstate Wants an End to Double-Dipping

ALBANY, NY (08/20/2009)(readMedia)-- Unshackle Upstate today called on the New York State Legislature to change a law that allows elected state officials to double-dip, collecting both their state pensions and their legislative salaries.

The coalition of upstate business groups cited a Tuesday, Aug. 18, New York Times article that named five upstate lawmakers who are earning state legislative pensions as high as $80,000 per year on top of legislative salaries of up to $104,500. In four of the case, the lawmakers are in the same jobs from which they "retired." In the fifth case, the lawmaker retired from the Assembly after he won election to the Senate.

"This kind of double-dipping is legal under New York State law only because the people who benefit are the ones who passed the law in the first place," said Brian Sampson, Unshackle Upstate's executive director. "You should not be able to retire from a job and then remain in the job and collect two salaries."

To benefit from the double-dipping loophole, a lawmaker 65 and older who wins reelection simply files retirement papers on the last day of the term, Dec. 31, thereby becoming eligible for monthly pension payments. They do not need permission from any government entity to do this. On the following day, Jan. 1, they begin their new terms, continuing to earn a legislative salary on top of their pensions. The group of four lawmakers mentioned in the Times article earn about $402,000 annually combined, and total state pensions of roughly $282,000.

"Practices such as these are an outrageous abuse of tax dollars because the double-dippers hold the same job they allegedly retired from. People are gaming the system and cheating taxpayers," Sampson said. "It's even more scandalous when you consider that the makers of the rules are the ones benefiting from those rules. There are no checks and balances in the system."

Ushackle Upstate is a bi-partisan coalition represents more than 45,000 employers with approximately 1.5 million workers in every region of upstate. The coalition's website www.unshackleupstate.com provides a direct way for citizens to send a message to elected officials in Albany.

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