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LePage exempts own pension from budget cutbacks
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| Parent(s) |
Candidate
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Mar 24, 2011 11:23am |
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| Category | Rule Change |
| Author | Mike Tipping |
| Media | Newspaper - Kennebec Journal |
| News Date | Sunday, March 13, 2011 05:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Under Gov. Paul LePage's proposed budget, teachers and other state employees will be required to increase their contributions to the pension system, from 7.65 percent of their salary to 9.65 percent.
One public employee currently paying 7.65 percent, however, won't see an increase.
The governor has exempted himself.
While public employees and teachers face this increase, as well as a raise in the retirement age, a freeze on cost-of-living adjustments for current retirees and a 2 percent cap on future cost of living increases, LePage's personal contribution rate to the retirement system will remain the same, which means he'll be paying $21,420 over four years.
If LePage faced the same increase as state employees, it would cost him $5,880 over his term.
Unlike teachers and state employees, however, the size of the governor's pension doesn't depend on how long he pays into the system. As soon as he leaves office, he'll begin receiving a three-eighths of his salary, which works out to $26,600 annually.
For comparison, a Maine teacher would have to work for more than 25 years to receive this level of benefits.
Confidential employees, those that are not represented under union collective bargaining, also are not seeing their salary contributions increased to the same rate. They'll continue to pay just 3.65 percent of their salary to the pension fund. |
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