A legislative committee today gave a cool reception to end the double-counting of service years for retirement benefits for county elected officials.

The Association of Arkansas Counties, which receives public money to essentially lobby for county officials, said the benefit is needed to get qualified people to run. At least one Democratic legislator defended the practice.

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The days of solid-gold public benefits such as these are over. The rebellion has reached Washington and the state houses. The courthouses are next. Just ask some of the double-dippers ousted down in Garland County. A year’s credit for a year’s service is better still than most people in the private sector receive because employer-paid pension plans are becoming extinct. The foot-draggers better get with the program.

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