Prince George's County will pay for life insurance policies for Gov. Parris N. Glendening and three of his top aides throughout the rest of their lives, county officials confirmed yesterday.
Prince George's government finances life insurance policies for retired employees at a maximum benefit of about $127,000.
"They are retirees," county spokesman Royce D. Holloway said of the governor and his aides. "And we provide our retirees with life insurance."
However, under the county's supplemental pension plan, Mr. Glendening and his three aides have also become eligible for tens of thousands of dollars in early pension benefits because each was either "involuntarily separated" or fired from his job.
Government sources say the cost to the county of each insurance premium is less than $40 this year, miniscule compared with Prince George's $1.2 billion budget.
But some County Council members said yesterday that the issue wasn't money, but whether the governor and his aides were taking advantage of the county's benefits system.
"The point is are they retirees or have they been involuntarily terminated," said Audrey E. Scott, the only Republican on the County Council. "It appears that they have it both ways. I think they have to make up their minds."
"It's an obvious abuse," said Councilman Walter H. Maloney, a Democrat.
"We're going to make that a part of our inquiry and reform," he said of the council's review of some of the county's generous benefits. "It gets curiouser and curiouser."
Phone calls to other council members were not returned.
Dianna Rosborough, the governor's press secretary, did not directly address whether there was a paradox in considering Mr. Glendening and his aides both fired and retired.
Instead, she emphasized that the premiums and the face value of the life insurance policies would continue to decrease over the next five years until they reached about $37,500 each.
Regarding the life insurance and supplemental pension issues, Mrs. Rosborough said, "We are focusing our efforts on the confirmation hearings of Mr. Knapp and Mr. Stegman."
Michael J. Knapp and Frank W. Stegman are, respectively, the governor's nominees for secretary of personnel and secretary of labor, licensing and regulation. As trustees of the Prince George's supplemental pension plan, they enacted an "involuntary separation" program in 1992 that provided the governor and the three aides, including Mr. Knapp, with tens of thousands of dollars in early and increased pension benefits for life.
In recent weeks, the county's benefit plans, including the "involuntary separation" program and lucrative retirement payments to police and fire union employees, have come under increasing criticism and scrutiny.
In light of its projected $131 million deficit, Prince George's County plans to eliminate the "involuntary separation" program.
The budget shortfall has already caused Mr. Glendening's successor, Wayne K. Curry, to propose laying off 830 people and eliminating 500 jobs.
The benefits issue erupted late last month when it was reported that Mr. Glendening had made three of his top aides -- Mr. Knapp, chief of staff Major F. Riddick Jr. and deputy chief of staff Michele T. Rozner -- eligible for the early pension benefits by requesting their resignations before he left office.
Amid criticism, the governor and the three aides gave up the early pension benefits until they reached retirement age of 55 or left state service.