Retired assemblymen get higher pension

Friday, Jan. 28, 2000 | 9:45 a.m.

The state Supreme Court's 4-2 ruling Thursday, which will cost the Public Employees Retirement System more than $20,000 a year, sweetens pensions of former Assemblymen David Nicholas of Reno and Bob Craddock of Las Vegas.

A 300 percent pension increase took effect after the Legislature in late June 1989 overrode a veto by then-Gov. Bob Miller and put the increase into law.

Between then and Nov. 21 of that year, when the increase was repealed - after public outcry - in a special legislative session, several lawmakers retired and temporarily got the higher benefits.

When the increase was taken away by the retirement system, Craddock and Nicholas, who left the Legislature after the 1987 session, sued.

"We are unwilling to create a precedent that would impair thousands of employees' rights solely to prevent a few individuals from collecting greater benefits as a result of the passage of (the pension bill)," Justice Myron Leavitt wrote.

Craddock said he was delighted with the ruling.

"I'm not as surprised as you may think, because I felt all along that the law was quite clear on this issue," he said. "It was a significant issue for me, having donated 16 years of my life to public service for inadequate pay."

Craddock said he has been living without the increase now for more than 10 years, so a big check will be coming in the mail to him soon. Craddock said he is mostly interested in providing educational opportunities for his grandchildren with the windfall.

The majority ruling means that Craddock, 68, will receive an additional $1,019 a month for the rest of his life. Nicholas, 69, will receive an additional $863 a month.

Justice Cliff Young dissented, saying Craddock and Nicholas hadn't obtained vested rights to the unearned increase. Young also said both men timed their retirement to take advantage of the temporary windfall.

Justice Bill Maupin also dissented, saying the Legislature intended to void the increase in its entirety and that the two retired lawmakers lost nothing in the process.