In the aftermath of Thursday's 6-0 vote by the Government Operations Committee to table the Government Employees Retirement System bill, some lawmakers continued to point fingers.
Nine senators were listed as sponsoring the bill, which the GERS board had proposed. Six of the nine were present Thursday: Sens. Vargrave Richards, Roosevelt David, Allie Allison Petrus, Gregory Bennerson, David Jones and Donald "Ducks" Cole.
Jones claimed that Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, a signer not present at the meeting, was the one who originated the bill initially in his proposal for judges' and senators' retirement. Jones accused Donastorg now of trying to distance himself from the bill. Cole supported Jones, saying that all senators who had signed the bill had petitioned to get it to committee, so they were all aware of what they were doing.
Both senators said Donastorg's claims of not having backed the bill were false. They also had harsh words for GERS for not having come torward to defend its own proposed legislation. No GERS board member has yet appeared in the Senate chambers to comment on the bill.
Jones, in regard to his signature on the bill, said "people put their names on bills all the time." It doesn't necessarily mean they are going to go along with the bill; it just "confuses the masses," he said.
Donastorg, when asked about the remarks, was unruffled. "The bill is flawed, pure and simple," he said. He said he had backed a draft of legislation sent down by retired Judge Verne Hodge in a letter to Richards recommending changes in retirement benefits for judges and senators, which is how he became involved.
There was no sign-up sheet for the bill, Donastorg said. "On the day of the session, some senators said ‘no,'" he said, but "with no sign-up sheet, someone dropped the ball."
Donastorg took note of legislation he has been pushing for some months to reduce the size of the Senate, reduce the salaries and elect "at-large" senators who would each be responsible for their own districts. "Does that sound like I back the Senate retirement?" he said. "I want to see the body made smaller and more accountable."
Judge Hodge said in a telephone interview that his interest was in "giving parity to the territorial judges that follow me." He explained that the bill under which he retired had been repealed, and any judge retiring now will get $65,000 a year, as opposed to the $100,000 he or she would be making on the bench. The $65,000 figure is what the GERS bill recommends.
The repealed bill for the judges included Senate pensions as well. Hodge said he had sent a critique of various portions of the GERS bill to Richards, but it "never got acted on because the GERS started working with the senators."
Smiling at his colleague's remarks, Donastorg said after a pause, "Maybe they just didn't like my calypso." He referred to his recently recorded Carnival CD "Political Prossertoots."
