Thursday, 4:30 PM
Bulger says he 'earned' his pension, SJC takes hearing under advisement
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
A defiant William M. Bulger snapped back at his critics today after listening to lawyers argue before the state's highest court about how much he should collect for a pension as the former president of the University of Massachusetts.
"I'm here on a matter of principle," Bulger said after the 30-minute hearing. "I don't want to be scared off by the critics."
Bulger, who is also the former president of the state Senate, watched the proceedings with his wife from the second row inside the Supreme Judicial Court. A decision is not expected today from the justices, who took the arguments under advisement.
At issue is the $36,000 annual housing allowance that Bulger received as UMass. president and other payments he made into one of his retirement accounts.
In November, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy ruled that Bulger was entitled to count his annual housing allowance and payments to one of his retirement accounts as part of his regular compensation for purposes of calculating his pension. The ruling boosted Bulger's pension by roughly $29,000, to about $208,000 a year. State Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly appealed Murphy’s decision.
The former school president, dressed in a characteristic dark suit and crisply knotted tie, said critics have treated his pension as if it were "Bulger's bounty." When he was first offered the housing allowance by the school’s board of trustees, he turned it down, Bulger said.
"It was (the board of trustees) who suggested I keep the housing allowance," Bulger said. "They would not have given it to me unless I earned it."
Bulger said the board wanted to reward him for, among other accomplishments, increasing the university’s endowment from to $150 million when he left from $40 million when he arrived.
His lawyer, Thomas R. Kiley, told the justices this morning that the housing allowance was part of Bulger's compensation package and should be counted when calculating his pension.
Judy Zeprun Kalman, appearing for the attorney general, disputed Kiley’s argument. If it were true, Kalman said, it could have implications for the pensions of 18 other college presidents and officials.
