Three top aides to Gov. Parris N. Glendening voluntarily gave up more than $100,000 in unused sick leave payments yesterday in another effort to staunch the political bleeding over lucrative benefits they and Mr. Glendening received upon leaving the Prince George's County government.
It marked the second time this week that members of the new administration -- including the governor himself -- have been prompted by adverse publicity to give back thousands of dollars in benefits.
"I can't take these hits on my credibility," said Glendening chief of staff Major F. Riddick Jr., who gave up $59,075 of unused sick leave. "We need to get this issue behind us because it is going to distract us. We need to restore confidence, not only among the legislature, but among the people of Maryland."
Michael J. Knapp, the governor's pick for personnel secretary, said he was willing to give up $32,927 in payments for unused sick leave "because there is really no amount of money that can make up for the assaults and attacks that have been made on my personal credibility and my reputation and my integrity."
The third aide, deputy chief of staff Michele T. Rozner, gave up $25,376.
Monday, after weekend news stories disclosed the rich benefits program, the governor and the three aides agreed to give up thousands of dollars in early pension payments.
They were entitled to the early retirement money because they were technically "involuntarily separated" from county government: Mr. Glendening, then the county executive, by term limits, and the aides by being asked by Mr. Glendening to resign from their county jobs.
State legislators and county officials reacted with shock.
Yesterday, the immediate reaction to the give-backs was favorable, although House Republicans asked the attorney general whether portions of the pension program were legal, and Prince George's Republicans called for an investigation.
"I think this decision reflects their deep concern for the integrity of public life and their respect for our system of government," said House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr., an Allegany County Democrat.
"I told them, we ought to try to get off the front page and get the public's agenda on the front page," he said.
Audrey E. Scott, the only Republican on the Prince George's County Council, called the decision by the three to give the money back "fantastic! I think it is the honorable thing to do. I think it is a shame it took a groundswell to convince them."
Despite the pension and benefits give-backs, Mr. Glendening and his three aides still will receive enhanced pensions when they leave state government or reach the age of 55, whichever occurs first.
Mr. Glendening will receive $21,165 a year; Mr. Riddick $21,757; Mr. Knapp $22,972; and Ms. Rozner $15,261. Those benefits are roughly 50 percent greater than the four would have received ordinarily because the pension plan was designed to provide extra money as a safety net for those "involuntarily separated."
Mr. Glendening said yesterday he has already received an advanced payment check for the first year of his pension, has already paid taxes on it, and now is working with accountants and the Internal Revenue Service to figure out how to give the money back to the county. He said if he cannot, he will wait an extra year, until he turns 56, to begin collecting the remainder of his pension.
Under the Prince George's program, those categorized as involuntarily separated also are entitled to payment for 100 percent of their unused sick leave rather than the county's standard 50 percent. It is the additional 50 percent in sick leave pay that the three aides agreed to give up yesterday. Mr. Glendening was not eligible to cash out unused sick or vacation leave because he was an elected official.
Despite that repayment, the three aides still stand to receive, or have already received, payments from the county for accumulated unused vacation and sick leave totaling about $125,000 for Mr. Riddick, about $74,500 for Mr. Knapp, and about $43,000 for Ms. Rozner.
Mr. Riddick said yesterday the governor never asked them to give back the money, but said he and the other two aides did so of their own volition. Two hours before Mr. Riddick's announcement, in fact, Mr. Glendening said that the three were entitled to the leave payments and that he had no intention of asking them to give them back.
The governor also said he believes the furor will blow over.
"Is it lasting? I think clearly not. I have been an executive for 12 years, and I have gone through struggles 100 times greater than this."
In 1990, at the suggestion of the Glendening administration, the county council approved a pension plan to supplement the basic retirement benefits available for county employees.
Mr. Glendening said the early pension provision was designed to help longtime county workers who might be laid off. But layoffs that were anticipated in 1992 were avoided by a subsequent early retire ment plan for about 250 employees, Mr. Knapp said yesterday.
Only nine former county employees have been deemed eligible for the benefits under the involuntary separation provision: Mr. Glendening; two county council members who, because of term limits, could not seek election last November; and six aides Mr. Glendening asked to resign from county government, including the three who followed their boss to top jobs in the State House.