Awesome Daily Mail editorial every legislator should read March 20, 2008
The Daily Mail hit the nail on the head - and West Virginia voters should ask legislators tough questions over how our pension systems are on the brink of disaster.
Enjoy!
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$40,000 pensions in a $30,000 state
THE most recent data available shows the per capita income in West Virginia was $27,215 in 2005. That’s how much money the average person lives on each year in the Mountain State.
For 1,446 retirees of state government, life is better. Their pensions from the state top $40,000 a year, with the highest being $111,444.
Half of the members of the over $40,000 club - 732 retirees to be exact - are in the Teachers Retirement System, which has an unfunded liability of $3 billion.
The formula for a state pension, based on the highest 36 months in the final 10 years of employment, can send a pension shooting up.
And teacher’s pension is based on a percentage of the average of the highest five years of pay in the last 15 years. Normally that is the final five years of pay.
These pensions are not really based on what an individual has paid into the system, but rather on a legislated system of entitlements, with no balances to protect the taxpayer.
The Judicial Retirement System is by far the most generous, as it pays 75 percent of what a sitting judge makes, an amount that goes up automatically whenever judges get a raise. Military service and time as a prosecutor (a part-time position in most counties) can count toward a judicial retirement.
All 32 of its retirees, therefore, are members of the over $80,000 club.
Senate Government organization Chairman Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, wants to rein in the formulas. Past legislatures were too generous with other people’s money, he said.
He’s right. The state must change the formulas.
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11 Responses to “Awesome Daily Mail editorial every legislator should read”
Good Luck!! No way in a milliom years will this legislature make any changes.
Why make any changes ? We are running a nice budget surplus and there’s plenty of money for everyone !
Judicial pensions are generous and the Legislature is controlled by moatly Attorney legislators.. hmmm
Makes perfect sense to me
>>>>THE most recent data available shows the per capita income in West Virginia was $27,215 in 2005
According to the State Div. of Personnel Annual Report, the average income of a state employee in 2005 was $30,907.
I agree some of the pensions, judges & teachers, are “out of control” but, to compare pensions to the per capita income in the State skews the view entirely.
It would have been most effective if the editorial had compared all incomes using the same yard stick, i.e. the average families’ income.
This editorial was/is unfairly prejudicial.
Jenny
The state is doing all that they can to make West Virginia look good. Imagine what the per capita income would be if we didn’t have such great paying, tax funded jobs/retirements. If we could give another raise to the legislatures, it would help even more.
Virginia Mullins
Please explain to me why State employees should be privileged with defined benefit pensions while the real world is on a co-contribution, self directed 401K type plan ?
In the real world (not Government fairyland)defined pensions went they way of the Do-Do Bird because of the costs involved. Business has to compete with the Canadians, Chinese, Mexicans, etc and being hamstrung with the massive costs involved made US products non competitive.
WHY should I, as a Business owner and a taxpayer, struggle to pay my tax (and remain competitive in a Global market) to fund defined benefit, high cost pensions to Public Employees ?
How about the State eliminate the current pension funds and only offer commercial, non-State controlled 401K retirement accounts and match each State Employees $ 1 contribution with $ .25 as most of the taxpaying world does ?
I do not think the editorial was biased at all, it simply shows the truth and in my opinion, does not go far enough it the criticism of a double standard (real world pensions opposed to fairyland pensions)
When the Billions in unfunded City and State pensions come due, at about the same time the gambling dollars dry up and the coal industry is O’Bama’d out of business, something will change.
I’d like to know why retired troopers and teachers can go back to work for the state and draw their underfunded pensions while working? And then draw a state pension as well if they retire from that job?
I know an ex-state trooper that is drawing a $50k/year pension and now makes over $40k/year working for the state as well.
Their payouts should be reduced, dollar for dollar, for what they earn at their state jobs.
Ray,
To compound the problem a little more, State Troopers (and retired firefighters) do not pay any WV State Income Tax on their pensions.
Some of the rest of us who retired from public safety jobs (Retired Navy in my case) can only exempt a portion of our retirement.
I’d like to see the state copy Pennsylvania on this one, and totally exempt all pension income.
Why are the newspapers and others so jealous of people being better off. So what if these make the pensions they do. Would you rather see them make less. Maybe their salaries should be adjusted to be an average 60,000 yearly. Then the average income would be more. In this state I agree we do have alot of government jobs and public jobs that pay out alot of pensions. But also in case you don’t remember thousands of people have left our state because we didn’t have any good paying jobs here. We do hoever have no shortage of executive jobs, attorneys, and doctors who make a living off of our poor people. Also if the unfair bad corporate citizens wouldn’t send all of our good paying jobs over seas or if they wouldn’t lay people off all the time because for the sake of having better CEO incentives and bonuses we would have more better paying jobs here. Also the energy comanies, AEP, Massey, Mountaineer Gas and others are robbing our resources and all the land that is in WV is tied up so it can’t be used for anything else. So why does the newspapers and others want to see everyone be poorer? I’m sick of all of this bull and propaganda about those lower middle class people making all this money. How much money do these people make that make these statements? Tell me Vic how much do you make a year. How much does the newspaper editors make. How much does Hoppie K. make? How much does Joe M. make? Yet I don’t hear you all saying they shouldn’t be making all this money.
Why are the newspapers and others so jealous of people being better off? So what if these make the pensions they do. Would you rather see them make less? Maybe their salaries should be adjusted to be an average 60,000 yearly. Then the average income would be more. In this state I agree we do have many government jobs and public jobs that pay out a lot of pensions. But also in case you don’t remember thousands of people have left our state because we didn’t have any good paying jobs here. We do however have no shortage of executive jobs, attorneys, and doctors who make a living off of our poor people. Also if the unfair bad corporate citizens wouldn’t send all of our good paying jobs over seas or if they wouldn’t lay people off all the time because for the sake of having better CEO incentives and bonuses we would have more better paying jobs here. Also the energy companies, AEP, Massey, Mountaineer Gas and others are robbing our resources and all the land that is in WV is tied up so it can’t be used for anything else. So why does the newspapers and others want to see everyone be poorer? I’m sick of all of this bull and propaganda about those lower middle class people making all this money. How much money do these people make that make these statements? Tell me Vic how much you make a year. How much does the newspaper editors make. How much does Hoppie K. make? How much does Joe M. make? Yet I don’t hear you all saying they shouldn’t be making all this money.
I want to say Vic I got a little carried away in my blog about the editorial. My statement included doctors in those who take money from the poor. I have to recant this because I have known of many doctors who barely make it especially if they are just in general practice. They spend years paying off education loans and then that much more establishing their practices. Many of them do donate many hours of community service to help the poor in clinics, etc. They should be commended. Their oath is a lifetime committment.