MAYBE A reminder is in order: Public pension systems were designed to provide workers with a reasonable retirement income when they are no longer capable of performing on the job. For some former public employees in Massachusetts, however, the pension system can be manipulated to boost their incomes while the workers are relatively young and gainfully employed.
A recent Globe analysis found that state and local governments are on the hook for as much as $235 million for 386 employees who are taking advantage of an obscure state law originally designed to protect employees from politically-motivated firings. Former bigwigs at the Big Dig, including former directors Michael Lewis and Patrick Moynihan, are among the windfall recipients. Normally, state workers must wait until age 55 to receive their pensions. But Lewis, the current transportation secretary in Rhode Island, started collecting his $72,000 Massachusetts pension last year at age 46.
Back in 1945, when the law was passed, there may have been some justification in allowing terminated employees with at least 20 years service to receive an immediate pension based on about one third of their pay. Today, workers no longer expect to remain at the same job for an entire career. And a termination notice is not a career-killer for workers in their 40s and 50s. These workers, especially highly-paid executives, shouldn't be allowed to bleed municipalities and financially-troubled state agencies.
Unfortunately, there is no incentive for the Legislature to tackle this mess. Lawmakers regardless of age are not only entitled to receive their pensions after 20 years, but they do not even have to be thrown out of office by the voters to qualify. Simply choosing not to run for reelection triggers the payout.
The Patrick administration is in the early stages of forming a special commission to study the state's retirement system. Topics for the 15-member commission include cost-of-living adjustments, contribution rates, and portability of benefits. The commission could do a significant public service by examining the section of the state law that allows highly paid former executives to game the system.
The public is getting fed up with bloated public employee pensions. In California, voters are even mounting a ballot initiative to limit the size of public pensions, prohibit retroactive benefits, and require public employees to reach full retirement age before they can receive certain benefits. When it comes to pension abuses, the public mood is no longer retiring.
