Though Texas employees are increasingly retiring just to get rehired — a clever way to bring in a salary AND a pension at once — USA Today reports that many states are curbing the practice.
Reporter Brad Heath notes that states “pummeled by the recession and heavy job losses are moving to bar government employees from ‘double dipping.'”
New Mexico and Utah are considering banning the practice all together. Arkansas is considering a ban that applies just to elected officials. And a couple of other states are considering doing what Texas already does — making employees wait at least 90 days before returning to work.
South Dakota is considering making employees wait four months to come back. And Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed a law in June requiring retirees to wait six months before returning to work. That state has more than 9,000 return-to-work employees, compared to Texas’ 6,000.
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