Perry drawing state retirement plus salary

Star-Telegram ^ | December 15, | Maria Recio

[Cincinatus' Wife]

..On a campaign swing through Cherokee, Iowa, Perry was asked why the Employee Retirement System should be paying his retirement while he's still collecting a salary.

"That's been in place for decades. ... I don't find that to be out of the ordinary," Perry said of the practice. "ERS called me and said, 'Listen, you're eligible to access your retirement now with your military time and your time and service, and I think you would be rather foolish to not access what you've earned.'"

...The governor's gross annual salary is $150,000; his net salary is $133,000. The net monthly annuity check Perry started receiving Jan. 31 is $7,698. Combined, his net pay from the state is now more than $225,000 annually.

...."As part of his standard financial planning, on Jan. 31, 2011, Gov. Perry began to receive a Texas state employee retirement annuity of $7,698 per month before taxes ($6,588 net)," [Ray] Sullivan said. "The annuity is consistent with Texas state law and Employee Retirement System rules."

'Rule of 80'

Perry, 61, has a long record of state service, having won election as a state House member, state agriculture secretary and lieutenant governor before becoming governor in 2000.

Sullivan cited what's known by state employees as the "rule of 80," which allows state employees to start drawing on their retirement when their age plus years of public service credit totals at least 80.

"The combination of Gov. Perry's U.S. military service, state service and age exceeded the state-required 80 years and qualified him for the annuity," Sullivan said.

Perry continues to pay 6.5 percent withholding tax from his state salary to the state retirement system, the spokesman added.....

[humblegunner]

I work the night shift.

So how is the Bath House industry doing these days?

[Hot Tabasco]

I was just commenting on the perceived unfairness of it.

Thanks, I understand what you are saying.

Am I criticizing Perry, absolutely not. Just like the example of my county's new DEMOCRAT Executive, I am criticizing the government system that allows both of them to not only receive lifetime retirement pensions but to continue to work in a capacity that pays a greater salary from same employer that is now paying them an annual pension benefit.

And my next concern is whether or not this new government job for both Perry and my County Executive will grant them ANOTHER government funded pension benefit...........

What's most disturbing about this thread is the number of folks who are dismissing the fact that Perry is double dipping (and I don't mean that as a perjurative) and in violation of everything Conservatives and the Tea Party are rallying against - government largess, exhorbitant salaries and taxpayer funded pension plans.

I for one don't appreciate having to fund my County Executive's pension, providing him with lifetime healthcare benefits and pay him a salary at the same time..and the possibility of another pension when the jerk leaves office.

And if I were a Texan, I would feel the same towards Perry...........

[Tribune7]

You are so far behind in current events it isn't funny. The defined contribution 401K-type plan was created in 1986.

Um, no. You fed workers -- at least you sound like one -- don't get a "defined contribution" 401K Plan.

Well, OK, you do sorta BUT YOU ALSO get a defined benefits plan (FERS) i.e. a guaranteed income based on the average of the highest 36 months of federal pay.

You are going to get a pension based on the highest 36 months of your pay regardless of whatever the money had been invested in did.

There are no guarantees in a 401K plan, which I guess you would understand if you worked in private industry.

Oh, and your Fed version of the 401K? That's just a extra neat added bonus.

Keep TSP & bag FERS & we are all happy.

This sums it up.

[potlatch]

Wow, have you tried it out? Bound to be good coffee, lol.

[potlatch]

I’m sure the bruhaha over Perry’s mandate stopped “mandate” legislation in most states.

The shot was made optional, as you well know. It cost $150 each for a series of 3 shots. Perry was thinking in terms of protecting girls from future health concerns and many parents couldn’t handle the high cost. His wife is a registered nurse so he would be well informed.

What you’re missing about the ‘little girls’ is that Junior High School girls are freely engaging in oral sex nowdays and it can be passed in that manner. They consider it ‘safe sex’.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1840556,00.html

[gogogodzilla]

And? You wouldn’t have had to drive on it... since there are ample state and federal highways. Heck, since it died, that’s *ALL* you have.

At least some of the traffic could have gotten off the fed/state highways and onto the turnpike, making your drive (and everyone elses) just that much smoother.

---

Personally, I think we ought to scrap the gas tax and then privatize all highways and their construction. We’d get better quality roads... that would actually get expanded when the traffic increases. (After all, what company would turn it’s nose up at a chance to make more money? And customers equal money.)

[Quicksilver]

About ERS

ERS administers retirement, health and other insurance benefits, TexFlex, a tax-savings flexible benefit program, and 401(k) and 457 investment accounts as part of the Texa$aver Program. We also manage and invest the ERS Trust for the sole benefit of retirement system members.

Funding for retirement benefits provided under the GBP is determined every two years and is paid for through member and employer contributions. The coverage offered through the GBP is not a constitutionally guaranteed benefit and ERS is not required to maintain funds to pay future benefits.

http://www.ers.state.tx.us/about/

[BobL]

“And? You wouldn’t have had to drive on it... since there are ample state and federal highways...”

I guess the difference is that I read the plan...and part of it was to buy Interstate highways for the purpose of tolling them. No different than what Mitch Daniels did to the Indiana Turnpike.

[BobL]

“What you’re missing about the ‘little girls’ is that Junior High School girls are freely engaging in oral sex nowdays and it can be passed in that manner. They consider it ‘safe sex”

Speak for your kids, I’m doing a bit better myself, and would prefer to be able to finish raising my kids myself, without Governor Perry’s help.

But I guess if he’s your man, then ANYTHING is just fine.

[potlatch]

[Speak for your kids, I’m doing a bit better myself]
Why do you people always have to bite back instead of discussing facts?

My 4 children are grown, have great jobs and lovely lives. We live in conservative Texas areas and thankfully missed the drop in cultural mores.

I am speaking of the kids nowdays, whose parents allow them to indulge in the popular culture of ‘sexiness’ - in TV, movies and the clothes they wear, etc. Most parents aren’t even aware of what’s going on with their kids nowdays, but doctors do and thus the dangers of the HPV virus.

[BobL]

“Why do you people always have to bite back instead of discussing facts?”

You sound like you did good with your kids, without Texas mandating that they be shot up. CONSERVATIVES today simply ask for the same opportunities that you had.

If medical evidence shows that little girls need to be shot up to protect them so that they can have wild and crazy sex as young teens, and a governor agrees and mandates it, that’s fine.

But the governor SURE AS HELL should not run around calling himself a conservative after that stunt (and probably shouldn’t even stay in the Republican Party). Even Romney didn’t try that as governor, and he was there that same year (2007).

[potlatch]

[ that little girls need to be shot up to protect them so that they can have wild and crazy sex ]

I’ve tried to explain that it’s the opposite of what you keep writing, they ARE having wild and crazy sex and therefore the vaccine would protect them. Perry knew that and in his caring thoughts he hoped to protect them.

Don’t know about your kids or where you live, but look at all the vaccines our kids get, first as babies and then to enter school. I recall having to update some shots before I went off to college. Those were mandated.

[BobL]

“I’ve tried to explain that it’s the opposite of what you keep writing, they ARE having wild and crazy sex and therefore the vaccine would protect them. Perry knew that and in his caring thoughts he hoped to protect them.”

I guess some of us parents just don’t need a governor to do our job. If my girl (or girls) want to run around and have wild and crazy sex in junior high, I have the RIGHT, as a PARENT to take her to the doctor and get her the shots, so that there would be no possibility of consequences for that lifestyle (i.e., birth control and/or abortion covers the rest).

But, I guess, there are people out there are so SCREWED UP that they think having a governor taking over parental roles is a conservative principal.

[moose-matson]

I think its a big deal. If it was Sarah Palin. She would’ve reduced her own takeout.

________________________________

Pure speculation.

[moose-matson]

Well, you could always run for governor yourself...couldn’t you?

[potlatch]

OK Bob, you keep ignoring previous information and turning it around.

I presume your children have received no mandated shots for school, because that would be taking away your rights as a parent to decide. No Polio, Smallpox, Rubella, etc.

[ If my girl (or girls) want to run around and have wild and crazy sex in junior high, I have the RIGHT, as a PARENT to take her to the doctor and get her the shots]

Yessireee Bob, I’m sure that your daughter will run right to you and tell you that she just had wild and crazy sex - so that you can take her to the doctor. Keep waiting........

I hope, for your sake, that she doesn’t.

[BobL]

“I presume your children have received no mandated shots for school, because that would be taking away your rights as a parent to decide. No Polio, Smallpox, Rubella, etc.”

You’re right, my kids have no shots that are intended to give them free run with wild and crazy sex in junior high.

“Yessireee Bob, I’m sure that your daughter will run right to you and tell you that she just had wild and crazy sex - so that you can take her to the doctor.”

Any decent parent knows what their kids are up to at that age...maybe that’s where we differ.

[potlatch]

[Any decent parent knows what their kids are up to at that age]

Sadly, you are mistaken unless you follow them around every minute of their day.

And you again avoided the comment about “required” shots for school.

But you’ll continue with your version of things so I’ll stop commenting.

[af_vet_rr]

They don’t even mention Perry’s income from his years of private sector work.

Are you being sarcastic? Perry spent very little time in the private sector - he's a career politician.

[af_vet_rr]

The shot was made optional, as you well know. It cost $150 each for a series of 3 shots. Perry was thinking in terms of protecting girls from future health concerns and many parents couldn’t handle the high cost. His wife is a registered nurse so he would be well informed.

What you’re missing about the ‘little girls’ is that Junior High School girls are freely engaging in oral sex nowdays and it can be passed in that manner. They consider it ‘safe sex’.

What you're missing is that Perry's good friend, legal adviser, and former Chief of Staff, Mike Toomey, took a job for Merck as a lobbyist. He then preceded to lobby Perry, Perry signs the Executive Order, Merck (and Toomey) stands to make a ton of money. Croney capitalism at its finest. It was not a coincidence that Merck just so happened to hire one of Perry's closest friends, who just so happened to lobby Perry, who just so happened to sign an executive order benefiting Merck.