Double compensation law targeted

Monday, May 12, 2003 | 9:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, on Friday defended Gov. Kenny Guinn for allowing Public Safety Director Dick Kirkland to collect a $100,000 salary and a $70,000 government pension annually.

Kirkland was allowed to collect both retirement and salary after the the 2001 Legislature, in an attempt to draw hard-to-find teachers out of retirement, allowed a public employer to declare a critical labor shortage in a certain position. Such a declaration would enable a person to be called back into service and not lose his or her government pension.

Guinn used that law to hire Kirkland.

"I don't feel this was an improper use of the law," Raggio said Friday at a hearing of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Assembly Bill 450.

The bill would tighten the law to prevent the governor or other appointing officials to allow what some have called "double dipping" in naming the head of a "department, board, agency, school district or commission" or the immediate deputy. The bill would also cut off double pay effective Oct. 1 for those department heads or deputies who are drawing both compensations.

Raggio said that in Kirkland's case, Guinn was faced with filling a top job and "these positions don't pay a lot." He said he was concerned with any bill that addresses only one person.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said the 2001 law was passed to address the critical needs of public school teachers in such areas as math and science.

She said Kirkland immediately declared 22 of his employees, including his administrative aide, as critical employees. She said legislators then "took heat" for passage of the bill.

Kirkland was director of the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety when the agencies were split in 2001. The governor then declared a critical shortage existed for the public safety director and his deputy.

Kirkland was appointed drawing both his pay as public safety director and his retirement checks from service as Reno Police chief and Washoe County sheriff. Kirkland has announced his resignation, effective in June.

George Pyne, executive officer of the state Public Employees Retirement System, opposed the bill. He said it assumes there will never be a dearth of qualified management applicants.

He urged the Senate to reject the bill to allow the retirement system to complete its study on the impact on the pension system. The study is due in 2005. The committee did not take any action on the bill.