June 4th, 2016
Abbott, Hegar took the high, lonely road
Corpus Christi Caller-Times Editorial
“Policing one’s own is a rarity in politics and governing. It’s a duty shirked regularly by otherwise-principled people in power who keep their own houses in order but ignore the miscreant behaviors of others for fear of retaliation or out of party loyalty.
Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott and Comptroller Glenn Hegar did that rare thing. They took principled action to stop the widespread unprincipled practice of using emergency leave as severance pay or hush money for departing state employees. They issued a directive to stop the practice until the Legislature addresses the issue — which the Legislature already is preparing to do.
Emergency leave is meant for actual emergencies such as an unexpected injury or illness suffered by the employee or a family member, or a death in the family. The envisioned duration for emergency leave is a few days or sometimes weeks — not the several months that the abusers of emergency leave have provided to people who left their jobs or were forced out.”
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