Yesterday the Texas state legislation voted to
raise their own retirement benefits.
They did so by raising the salaries of District Judges, to whose salaries legislative retirement benefits are pegged. Giving a raise to hard-working underpaid judges doesn't seem objectionable to me; however, the increase in legislature benefits was not just an incidental result but an intentional one. The legislature also raised the percentage of that pegged salary figure that they can get, from 2% to 2.3%. Perhaps not a huge figure, but it's more than most other state employees will see in terms of pension increases. (It's sure more than I will see.)
In addition, the Senate bill initially tried to change the base for calculation of benefits from the salary of a District Judge to the salary of the Governor. That change did not make its way to the final bill, however. Personally, I think it would be a better idea to peg retirement benefits for legislators to the salary of a teacher. Or, perhaps, to the benefit a Social Security recipient will receive once the Bush administration is done tinkering with that program. I wonder whether the Republican members of our legislature will waive any Social Security they are entitled to when they start receiving the pension they get from the state of Texas.
Finally, Representative Hartnett, who introduced this bill to the Senate, made probably the most telling comment of all when he said that the increase in pension is deserved because the legislature receives "food stamp pay". He is certainly out of touch if he believes the lifestyle he and his family live are in any way comparable to that of a family eligible for food stamps. But hey--let them eat cake.
Is the legislature underpaid? Perhaps. They're in a big club there. What other part-time employee of the state of Texas is even eligible for retirement benefits, much less first in line for a raise?
At a time when the media seems about dead, it's good to know that at least one red-state paper is willing to report on the doings of government. Write the Statesman to let them know your thoughts about the Texas lege and the article: letters@statesman.com