Assemblyman Hector De La Torre said Tuesday that he was ousted as chairman of the powerful Rules Committee for challenging Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez’s "golden handshake" offer to employees as a potential taxpayer ripoff.
De La Torre, D-South Gate, said he simply could not justify – despite Núñez’s insistence – pension-sweetening offers to 222 employees, of whom 13 already qualify for pensions above $100,000 and an additional 12 for pensions of $70,000 to $99,999.
"I felt it wasn’t good for taxpayers and didn’t make sense in light of everything else that’s going on with the budget," he said.
De La Torre said it appeared that Núñez was pushing the golden handshake offer as a form of gratitude – "icing on the cake" – for Assembly employees in the lame-duck leader’s final months.
Steve Maviglio, Núñez’s spokesman, declined to comment Tuesday. "It is and always will be an internal caucus matter," he said of replacing De La Torre on the committee that oversees Assembly operations. However, Maviglio defended the golden handshake proposal, which offers two years of additional service credit to Assembly employees who are 50 or older and have worked for the state at least five years.
"It was part of a cost-savings package that will help the Assembly reduce its expenditures by 10 percent," Maviglio said. "It’s worked in the past and it should work again."
Jon Waldie, the Assembly’s chief administrative officer, said his office had suggested the golden handshake plan to Núñez because it mirrored an incentive that was successful in 2003. Waldie said the Assembly could save $2 million to $3 million if 40 employees accept the offer. Anyone who receives a golden handshake is not expected to be replaced for a period of three to 18 months, depending upon the job, Waldie said.
Five legislative employees have accepted the offer thus far, records show.
