By Emily Wagster Pettus and Jeff Amy, Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — Retired Mississippi government employees who win legislative seats this year could be paid for legislative work while continuing to collect pension benefits. That is according to a new rule the state pension system is on track to adopt.
The board of the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement System voted Tuesday to direct the system’s staff to draft a new rule with a goal of having it in place by January, when the new four-year legislative term begins.
The Mississippi retirement system had a longstanding rule that said state elected officials could not receive salaries and pension benefits simultaneously. Attorney General Jim Hood issued a legal opinion in November contradicting that rule.
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