Legislation filed by Representative Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill) is on a fast-track pipeline in the Legislature. Dempsey is the House Chairman of the key Public Service Committee. Senator Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) is the new Senate Chairman (see article on the Senator, pg. 12).

Dempsey's bill provides the same opportunity as the state's - five years extra credit for employees who are eligible to retire. The major difference is that, unlike the state, public safety employees will also be eligible.

The bill requires local acceptance by the appropriate executive and legislative authorities. For example, this would be selectmen/town meeting, mayor/city council or county commissioners/advisory board. Executive authorities would have the right to limit the number of retirements, and the amount of bonus years to less than five years.

The bill currently says that applications for retirement cannot be later than August 31, 2002, with a retirement date no later than September 30, 2002.

Like the state, the last local ERI also started in 1992, but later in the year. When the local ERI ended in 1993, 62 communities or counties had voted for an ERI. Of that number, 33 were towns within county retirement systems which voted on their own for mostly small numbers of ERIs. Those towns were required to pay the additional cost of their ERIs to their respective county retirement systems.

Also 52 assorted housing authorities, fire districts, water districts, school districts (non-teachers) and mosquito control districts which, on an autonomous basis, voted on ERI. Most of these units retired only one or two employees.

Lowell had the largest number of ERI's. Facing a number of layoffs, Lowell gave five-year bonuses to 106 employees who accepted the early-out. Waltham was next in numbers of ERIs with 87, while Cambridge and Framingham each retired 85. Next came Lawrence with 71 and Middlesex County with 70.