Senate OKs Bill That Could Increase Pension of Papan

The state Senate unanimously approved legislation Wednesday that would put influential Assemblyman Louis J. Papan (D-Millbrae) in line for beefed-up state pension benefits.

Both Papan and Sen. Ralph Dills (D-Gardena), the author of the little-noticed bill, said the measure was not intended solely to help Papan. However, neither lawmaker could name anyone else who would benefit from the legislation.

The measure, approved by the Senate on a 35-0 vote and sent to Gov. George Deukmejian, would allow a legislator to receive retirement credit for military service that was not continuous.

Under a law passed last year, legislators are given retirement credit for up to four years of continuous service in the armed forces.

However, Papan served four years in the Army and the Air Force in two separate stints during World War II and the Korean War. Under the law, he would have been eligible to receive credit only for his first two years in the service.

Dills’ bill would allow Papan, who as chairman of the Assembly Rules Committee is one of the most powerful legislators in the Capitol, to receive credit for all four years. It could not immediately be determined how much the retirement credit would be worth to Papan.

Dills refused to tell a reporter whether Papan had asked him to carry the bill.

“Of what great, popular, momentous concern is it anyway?” Dills asked. “It could affect other people. It was not intended to apply just to one person.”

Papan denied he was getting special treatment.

“I’m asking for military credit, something that’s given to other members of the Legislature, and to state employees,” he said. “It makes it sound like something was done for me special and it was not.”