In Connecticut, Some Government Pensions Pay More Than Governor Earns

Nearly 300 retired state and local government workers in Connecticut are receiving more than $100,000 in annual pension payments, including 17 whose pensions pay them more than Gov. Jodi Rell (R) receives.

These are among the findings reached by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a nonprofit think tank based in Connecticut, in a recently released update report on its CTSunlight.org Web site. The site includes 2009 pension data for all retired state government employees.

“Connecticut has 17 retired state workers whose pensions are more than the governor’s annual salary, which is $150,000,” said Yankee Institute Executive Director Fergus Cullen. “Most of these affluent pensioners are from higher education. I don’t think the average taxpayer has any idea that would be possible.”

Almost 300 Top $100K
The Institute collected the data from the Comptroller’s office through Freedom of Information requests and counted 299 retired state retirees who collect annual pensions of more than $100,000.

“Generous government pensions mean that middle-class taxpayers who work until they’re 65 or even 70 are paying for state employees who retired at 50,” Cullen said. “Retirement benefits—not just pensions, but health care insurance, too—are on an automatic escalator, making it structurally harder to limit the growth of the state budget or spend money on other things that might be a higher priority.”

New Plan for New Hires
Cullen says the government pension situation screams for reform. The simplest solution would be for Connecticut to switch from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan for new state hires, he suggested.

State Senator Scott Frantz (R-Riverside) said he was not surprised by the report.

“The number sounds accurate, and there are several retirees who receive pensions in excess of $200,000 per year,” Frantz said.

Regarding the appropriateness of state workers receiving such high pensions, Frantz said, “If the state can afford it, and retirees put in a full career of hard, demonstrably productive work, then yes, but the state simply cannot afford it and will not be able to in the future.”

Frantz notes that in Connecticut “these benefits are taxed at the normal income tax rates.” Some states, such as Illinois, which has the nation’s largest unfunded pension liability, do not tax pension benefits.

Urges Reform
Frantz said the reforms he would like to see include “a defined contribution plan as opposed to a defined benefit plan, as well as more years of service required to qualify for pension and other benefits.”

He added, “The hard reality of our fiscal condition exposes the unaffordable nature of our state retiree and benefit plan, which is growing at a rate that is unsustainable even under normal circumstances.”

Sarah McIntosh (mcintosh.sarah@gmail.com) is a constitutional scholar who writes from Wichita, Kansas.

Internet Info

“$100K Club Includes 299 State Retirees,” the Yankee Institute for Public Policy:
 http://www.yankeeinstitute.org/2010/06/100k-pension-club-includes-299-state-retirees/