Deseret News: Senator Liljenquist Cuts Public Safety Employees a Little Slack

Sen. Liljenquist's SB 63 will be amended to allow public safety employees to continue retiring at full benefits before other government workers

Here's an interesting Deseret News tidbit, following on the heels of our 2/15/10 discussion, regarding State Sen. Dan Liljenquist's SB 63, once again reminding us that its a good idea to lobby your legislators when their proposed legislation isn't quite up to snuff:

• Utah Legislature: Public safety may catch a break on retirement

Here's the lede from this morning's Deseret News story:

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill creating a new, less costly state pension system will be amended to allow public safety employees to continue retiring at full benefits before other government workers.
SB63 had called for all employees covered under the state retirement system to work 35 years to earn a full pension, even though police officers, firefighters and other public safety employees traditionally have been able to leave earlier.
Now, the bill will be amended to give public safety employees a full pension after 25 years. Other public employees, including schoolteachers and state workers, still would have to work 35 years under the bill.
Liljenquist said there's a policy argument to be made for a shorter retirement window for public safety employees. "Some of these professions are more of a young person's career," he said. [...]

We'll volunteer that we're in agreement with Sen. Liljenquist rationale respecting this proposed bill amendment, as we've been having trouble wrapping our brain around the concept of forcing geriatric cops and firefighters to stick it out for a full 35 years on the job, in order to draw their retirement.

Having said that, we'll also put the focus on another interesting quote contained within today's DNews story:

The head of the Utah Public Employees Association, Audry Wood, agreed. "I think we all understand, especially with firefighters, it's such a physical, high-demand job, and the burnout rate is high," Wood said.But Wood said she still opposes the dramatic overhaul being proposed and wants the state to take more time in redesigning the pension system.The change Liljenquist is making, she said, "just goes to show that moving so quickly reveals the flaws. Getting the extra year we're asking for, we can flesh out a lot of the issues."

So what about it, Gentle Readers? Is Sen. Liljenquist's late recognition that public safety jobs are essentially "...more of a young person's career," a step in the right direction for proposed legislation that was otherwise sound? Or is Sen. Liljenquist's bill simply "moving too fast," and in need of "further study," as Utah Public Employees Association spokesperson, Audry Wood suggests?

Our discussion of Sen. Liljenquist's proposed overhaul of the Utah public employee retirement system provoked a pretty good discussion the last time around; so in the interest of stimulating a little more discussion on this topic, we'll ask out readers this:

What do you all think about this latest news development?