Texas Public Employees Subsidize Lawmaker Pensions

An ongoing discussion of pension reform in Texas has exposed the inconsistency of the retirement benefits of Texas legislators, which are heavily subsidized by state employees, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

 

State legislators contribute only eight percent of their $7,200 salary to their retirement yet they receive a monthly pension check after retirement based on the $125,000 salary of a district court judge, with the remaining funds covered by contributions from state employees.

 

Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchia raised the issue in a hearing last week before the legislature's Pensions, Investments, and Financial Service Committee, noting that the  332 lawmakers would need to contribute 18.6 percent to cover the full cost of their retirement benefits.

 

He said that prospect should serve as "a pretty dicey consideration” for lawmakers in the face the hypocrisy, as the Statesman put it, of some lawmakers now pushing for big changes to the state's employee pension system.