We don't want the day to completely slip away, without shining the spotlight on a fine lead editorial appearing in this morning's Standard-Examiner. In a most craftsman-like fashion, editorial page editor Doug Gibson draws a bead on a quirky Utah political practice which we've extensively ranted about here on Weber County Forum, public employee double dipping:
• OUR VIEW: Time to stop double-dippingWe're delighted to see the Standard-Examiner jumping aboard the editorial bandwagon on this; and we applaud the SE's no-nonsense proposed legislative approach:
Look, this is a no-brainer change to make and any Utah legislator who opposes it deserves to lose re-election. Utah is the only state in the Western United States that lets retirees come back to work with a salary, pension and a 401(k). The result is Utah has lost $400 million over the past eight years and will lose $900 million over the next 10 years. We just can't afford to bleed money like that, particularly during this tough recession.Note to our "fiscally conservative" state legislature: Are you listening?
We have no objection to a public worker retiring, drawing benefits and then moving into the private sector. That is not costing the state money. But public-sector double-dipping is, and it needs to stop.
