Lawmakers in Austin passed a bill to permit double dipping in 2003, expecting to save money by rehiring retired employees at a lower salary, said Talmadge Heflin, a Republican who served as a state representative for 22 years.
"We did it to be employee-friendly and save money at the time, but it appears that some of the rehires weren't at as much of a reduced rate as we thought," Heflin said in a telephone interview. He is an adviser to the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, a research group that advocates for limited government.
Texas pension benefits are set when an employee retires. If a retiree returns to government work, the agency employer must contribute to its pension fund at the same rate as for other employees, said Mary Jane Wardlow, a spokeswoman for the Employee Retirement System of Texas. The re-employed worker doesn't earn greater benefits, she said.
At least one Texas lawmaker, Representative Kenneth Sheets, a Dallas Republican, wants to prohibit double dipping to preserve jobs for younger workers.
"When people retire, they should retire," Sheets said. His bill in the House of Representatives would ban the practice.