Texas’ 61-year-old senior senator has a good deal. He has claimed retirement benefits from his time as a district attorney, as a state supreme court justice, and as state attorney general — to the tune of $65,383 — while collecting his senatorial salary. But Cornyn’s deal doesn’t compare to Rick Perry’s. The governor collects a $92,376 early pension while still collecting his gubernatorial salary.
Why the public generosity on office-holder’s pensions? It’s a nice little perk that lawmakers have quietly baked into the system for themselves, while claiming to be fiscal conservatives.
Andrew Griggs of the American Enterprise Institute notes, “…on average the retirement package for state government employees—meaning pensions and retiree health benefits—is around seven times [italics added] more generous than for similar workers employed in larger private-sector companies.”
