Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed a bill Thursday that would have allowed municipal employees to double dip, collecting a pension and a salary at the same time.
The bill had unanimously passed the House and the Senate, but in his veto message Malloy said he believes it “would impose an undue burden on muncipalities and is inconsistent with the purpose of the municipal retirement system, which is intended to provide assistance to our retirees and not current employees.”
Malloy said under the current law, Municipal Employee Retirement System members who have retired cannot receive retirement benefits if they are re-employed by the municipality from which they retired or another participating municipality, unless they are working for less than 20 hours a week or less than ninety days a year. But under the legislation he vetoed, Malloy said retirees would have been able to continue collecting full retirement benefits and receive compensation for full time employment.
The labor unions that supported this year’s bill felt it clarified a state law. They felt the legislation would allow a municipal employee after a long working career to go to work for another municipality without jeopardizing their retirement income.
Malloy vetoed similar legislation in 2013.
