If the Democratic Party Territorial Committee has its way, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull will stop the longstanding practice of rehiring government retirees who are already collecting pensions.
"Retirees cannot take the jobs in times of deficit and then tell the young to tighten their belts," said Luis "Tito" Morales, president of the Central Labor Council, who offered the resolution at a Territorial Committee meeting Saturday.
"These are yesterday’s problems and they require new problem solvers," Morales said.
After much debate, the committee voted to express its desire to limit the hiring of retirees in government positions, according to Radio One.
Morales' original proposal for a resolution requested that retirees return only long enough to train new persons with limits on the number of persons and the amount of salary.
He also said he hoped the Senate would put his resolution into law. Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen suggested that such a law would probably be unconstitutional.
Sen. Lorraine Berry took issue with other committee members, saying the governor should make hiring decisions and shouldn't have his hands tied.
Two of Turnbull's key assistants, Juel Molloy and Rudolph Krigger Sr., are retired from government service.
James O’Bryan, another of the governor’s assistants and chairman of the Territorial Committee, offered a motion to make the committee’s sentiments known to the governor.