California Assembly mum on golden-handshake offers to aides

In the wake of claims by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre that taxpayers could be ripped off by golden handshakes offered by the Assembly recently, the lower house has decided to keep its data secret.

The Assembly balked at releasing any financial projections or analysis of the offer it made last month to sweeten pensions of up to 222 aides if they retire this year.

Assembly Chief Administrative Officer Jon Waldie, responding to a request by The Bee, said the Legislative Open Records Act does not require release of legislative memos or correspondence to lawmakers.

This year's golden handshakes were identical to an offer made in 2002, which Waldie called successful but had no data on money saved.

Waldie called this year's plan a foolproof way to save money by creating vacancies. Roughly 20 percent of eligible employees participated six years ago – and he expects the same this year, he said.

"There's going to be a savings," Waldie said. "There's no doubt about that."

To fund the padded pensions, the Assembly expects to make a payment of about $1 million into the state's retirement system. If the tab turns out to be higher, the Assembly would foot the bill, Waldie said.

Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said the viability of the golden handshakes depends partly on future earnings of the $1 million, which makes release of Assembly projections essential.

"You've got to know what you're committing taxpayers to in the future," he said. "This is a legislative body that doesn't give a rat's behind about the taxpayer."

The Assembly's incentive plan allows 222 non-union aides who are 50 or older and have been employed at least five years to receive two additional years of service credit if they retire by Nov. 30.

The offer would add about $4,000 per year to the pension of a 55-year-old worker who has served the Assembly for three decades. If the participant lives to age 85, the incentive would total $120,000.

Waldie estimates that up to $3 million in salaries could be saved if 40 employees retire early and replacements were not hired for a period of three to 18 months, depending upon the job.

Marcia Fritz of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a pension-reform group that is critical of the golden handshake offer, said the Assembly's refusal to release its data suggests the analysis was not very thorough.

"If they had really done a (professional) analysis, they would be championing that fact," Fritz said.

Attorney Terry Francke, an expert on public-records law for Californians Aware, which promotes open government, said cities and counties are required to disclose any financial data associated with golden handshakes they propose.

Francke said the Legislature breeds distrust by not imposing the same standard on itself.

"What it means is that those who make the law have made themselves above the law," Francke said.

Assemblyman De La Torre, D-South Gate, said last month that Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez removed him as chairman of the Rules Committee because he challenged the plan, which he characterized as a going-away present – "icing on the cake" – to employees by the lame-duck leader.

Golden handshakes are not necessary because employees who qualify for large pensions already have incentive to leave and those with small pensions are not likely to accept the offer, De La Torre said.

Thirteen Assembly employees eligible for golden handshakes already qualify for pensions exceeding $100,000, and an additional 12 employees qualify for pensions of $70,000 to $99,999, said De La Torre, who received a list of eligible employees before his ouster as Rules Committee chairman.

Waldie declined to confirm De La Torre's statistics or to release a list of eligible employees, citing privacy considerations. Six workers have accepted the offer thus far, records show.

Waldie said that tailoring a golden handshake plan to accommodate only low-wage workers would spark claims of bias.

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