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SPRINGFIELD–A report released today by Taxpayers United of America (TUA) shows that former members of the Illinois General Assembly are now enjoying lavish, gold-plated, million-dollar pensions that they authorized, and that some retired legislators already have collected over a million dollars in pension payments.
Click here to view the top 100 pensions in the General Assembly Retirement System (GARS).
“Our list of the ‘Top 100’ pensions of the General Assembly Retirement System (GARS) is topped by Arthur Berman, author of the infamous ‘Berman Tax Increase Amendment’ to the Illinois Constitution,” said Jim Tobin, TUA President. “Berman receives (as of 4/1/12) an annual pension of $209,531. That’s $17,461 a month. So far, Berman’s total pension paid to date is $1,837,857.”
“Number two on the list is Edward Petka, who receives an annual pension of $166,119, and whose total pension paid to date is $359,844.”
“Two king-size tax-raisers are on the list, one a former governor and the other a former legislator and governor. Former governor James R. ‘Big Jim’ Thompson receives an pension of $10,919 a month, and his total pension paid to date is a mind-boggling $2.1 million.”
“Former governor and legislator, Jim Edgar, receives an annual pension of $138,898, and his total pension paid to date is a sumptuous $1,287,026. He also gets $176,000 from the University of Illinois as a ‘distinguished scholar.’ I wonder how many hours a week he works for his 176 grand.”
“It’s no wonder that Illinois’ government pensions funds are finding themselves under water, and that all of the recent temporary 67% increase in the state personal income tax is being funneled into the state government pension funds.”
“It’s ironic that while members of the state legislature are looking forward to a cushy retirement, House members are considering raising the state’s regressive cigarette tax by a huge $1.00 a pack. This proposed tax hike is a job-killer. It will drive many small shops out of business and will impact the poor most of all. The black market for cigarettes will keep growing. And small shops near the state border that are dependent on cigarette sales might as well just close their doors as smokers drive out of state to purchase cigarettes.”
This release is the fourth in a series. To see the first, click here: Pension Millionaires Draining Lifeblood from TRS Pension Fund. For the second, click here: State Troopers & Corrections Officers Quick to Capture Lavish Pensions. And for the third, click here: For REALLY Big Bucks, Try the State University System.
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SAN FRANCISCO— It’s time to get the special interest money out of the electoral process. Free and Equal (F&E) and Taxpayers United of America (TUA) released lifetime pension payouts for San Francisco area government retirees.
Taxpayers United of America and Free and Equal today revealed government employee pensions for the San Francisco and Alameda area. California is the 13th state in a nationwide tour for the two organizations.
“The highest lifetime pension payout in 13 states thus far comes from Alameda County at $17.8 million. How much money are bureaucrats willing to bilk taxpayers for before they take action?” asked Christina Tobin, TUA Vice President and Founder and Chair of Free And Equal.
“We are here to tell politicians that we are uniting reformers across the spectrum to throw anyone out of office who who makes deals with special interest and we are building the nationwide tool to support the movement. We will be releasing our Nationwide Database for Pension and Electoral reform in the coming days.”
“While residents across the bay area face crushing taxes, falling home values, and high unemployment, Governor Brown maintains favor with the union leaders by seeking a deal to cut government employee pay by 5%, increase taxes, and leave the pension problem untouched. This is the kind of deal that got us into this mess and yet here Brown is, making his own deal, selling out constituents to save face with union bosses who support him.”
Tobin continued, “For example, Gary Thuman, retired Alameda County employee, collects an annual pension of $396,102. His estimated lifetime payout is $17,824,590*.”
“Heather Fong, retired San Francisco government employee, has an annual pension of $280,350, with an estimated lifetime payout of $11,858,810*.”
“Retired San Francisco government teacher, Mae G. Chan, has a lifetime estimated payout of $9,634,319* based on an actual annual pension of $240,557.”
View pension amounts below:
- Alameda County Gov Teachers Top 100
- Alameda County Gov Employees Top 100
- San Francisco County Gov Teachers Top 100
- San Francisco CA City Gov Employees Top 100
- California State Assembly Top 20
- University of California Top 100
“California’s government pension systems are crushing middle class Californians. Replacing defined benefit pensions for all new government hires with social security and 401(k)s would eventually eliminate unfunded government pensions. If current government employees would just increase their pension contributions, they would preserve their pension benefits. We need a stable system that is fair to both taxpayers and beneficiaries or pension checks will stop coming.” Added Tobin, who attended Thursday’s Pacific Research Event that examined public pensions.
*TUA submits FOIA requests for actual pensions. Since personal information is not available, lifetime pension payouts are estimated based on retirement at 55, life expectancy of 85 (IRS Form 590), and 3% COLA.
TUA’s work on California’s pension crisis is mentioned in this post at CalWatchdog.com.
If you have not read or heard anything about California’s unfunded public employee pension crisis, you’ve probably been living under a rock or, like union bosses and too many members of the state Legislature, the governor’s office and local elected officials, you are happily in denial.
Tensions are mounting too as pension deniers or pension reform “obstructionists, as Mercury News writer Daniel Borenstein called them, are attempting to publicly shame those of us pointing out that pension liabilities could bankrupt California without serious reform.
Borenstein is joining CalWatchdog contributor Steven Greenhut and David Crane, a former California State Teachers Retirement System board member, and me for a panel on pension reform in San Francisco on Thursday.The unions have already gone on the attack about the event.
“Spotting my scheduled appearance on an upcoming conservative think-tank panel to discuss public-employee pensions, union spokesman Steve Maviglio went into Twitter attack mode last week,” Borenstein wrote for the Mercury News.
“@stevenmaviglio branded me a ‘pension basher’ and called my ethics into question. His sad attempt to divert the debate badly mischaracterizes my position and further undermines serious discussion of a complex issue.”
Fortunately as unions get louder so do the cries from taxpayers and advocacy organizations.
Christina Tobin, Founder and Chair of Free and Equal Elections Foundation and Vice-President of Taxpayers United of America, this week has been holding press conferences in California cities to draw increased attention to California’s pension crisis, including a planned event in Fresno on Wednesday and San Francisco on Thursday (in the morning before the reform panel).
Instead of denying the flood of economic problems looming because of pensions, it’s time to face the facts and fix the problem.
