Kate Brown Wants to Cut Pension Costs. Her Agency Director Asked for a Double-Dipping Loophole.

The director of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission approached lawmakers with an unusual request last week.

OLCC director Steve Marks wanted to change state law to benefit just one person: the liquor agency's top licensing and compliance official, Richard B. Evans Jr.

In testimony before the House Economic Development Committee, Marks made his case for Evans, calling him "uniquely qualified."

"This is an exceptional exception and will not be used lightly," Marks said.
At issue is the law that prohibits most Oregon public employees who have retired and are receiving their pensions from coming back to work for a public employer in Oregon for more than 1,039 hours a year, or half time.

The amendment Marks requested would allow Evans, 51, to work full-time through June 30, 2019, while continuing to collect his pension of $82,000 (he retired last year as superintendent of the Oregon State Police). As a full-time hire, Evans would draw a $98,000 salary in addition to his pension, making his total pay more than the $164,000 he earned as state police superintendent.

Marks' request came at a delicate time.

Gov. Kate Brown has made reducing the state's unfunded pension liability a top priority. Currently, the state owes pensioners $22 billion more than it has or will have saved. Brown is even considering the novel approach of selling $5 billion in state assets ("The Price Is Right," WW, May 17, 2017).

Marks, who once served as chief of staff to Gov. John Kitzhaber, is well aware of the sensitivities around public employee compensation. He says he consulted Gov. Brown's staff before seeking the loophole.

"I got permission from the governor's office to make the ask," Marks says. "They didn't endorse it."

Marks says he sought the exception because of the difficulty of filling his agency's top law enforcement position. He says senior police officials are in great demand and the OLCC's specialized areas of enforcement—alcohol and cannabis sales—require an unusual skill set.

The issue of double dipping—in which an employee retires, collects a pension, and then goes back to work for a public employer—is not new. Nearly 12,000 Oregon public employees who are retired and drawing a pension from the Public Employees Retirement System also drew public salaries last year.

Occasionally, lawmakers have carved out specific exemptions, usually for rural public safety jobs.

Joe Baessler, political director of the Oregon American Federation of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents OLCC employees, says Marks runs his agency well. But he says changing state law for just one person is poor practice.

"Steve's trying to solve a problem," Baessler says, "but it makes me nervous and causes consternation."
Brown belatedly agreed after WW asked for comment.

"This amendment and other bills being considered this session bring up the larger question around the growing number of exemptions for retirees working more than part time," says Brown spokesman Bryan Hockaday. "This is an important conversation to have, but not during a time that we as a state are considering larger PERS reforms. Given this dynamic, Gov. Brown has requested that OLCC withdraw the amendment."

Tuesday afternoon, on the eve of a second work session on the OLCC bill, Marks withdrew his request.