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Perry "Retires" to Boost Pension Pay

Photo by KUT

Rick Perry has done something his opponents have been hoping he’d do for years: retire. But it’s not what the governor’s detractors had in mind.

Perry officially retired in January so he could start collecting his lucrative pension benefits early, but he still gets to collect his salary — and has in turn dramatically boosted his take-home pay.

Perry makes a $150,000 annual gross salary as Texas governor. Now, thanks to his early retirement, Perry, 61, gets a monthly retirement annuity of $7,698 before taxes, or $6,588 net. That raises his gross annual salary to more than $240,000.

Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan said the governor's early collection of his pension benefits is "consistent with Texas state law and Employee Retirement System rules."

But the disclosure is sure to spark criticism of Perry, who has called for sweeping changes to Social Security for average workers and has railed against special "perks" that members of Congress get.

"Perry was legally able to begin collecting the employee class annuity under the 'rule of 80.' The combination of his U.S. military service, state service and age exceeded 80 years and qualifies him for the annuity under Texas Government Code 813.503 as amended in 1991," Sullivan said. "Perry continues to pay into the Employees Retirement System with a 6.5 percent withholding from his state salary."

Perry will get credit for his the subsequent years he works as Texas governor, so he'll receive a higher pension benefit if he serves out the remaining three years of his term as Texas governor, officials said. He also is eligible for Social Security benefits and lifetime, state-provided health care.

The early retirement manuever came to light Friday in new ethics disclosures from the Federal Election Commission, which requires all candidates running for federal office to provide details about how they make their money.

Perry’s presidential campaign had sought two successive delays of the personal financial disclosure filing but had to turn them in by 5 p.m. Thursday.

In his 2010 book Fed Up!, and out on the campaign trail, entitlement programs and government-mandated health care are among Perry's favorite targets.

“I do advocate totally rethinking the safety net, personal security programs completely,” Perry said in a November 2010 interview. “Why is the government collecting your tax money for retirement and health care programs? That’s not a stated constitutional role.”

In his most ambitious policy prescription so far as a presidential candidate, Perry proposed a partial privatization of Social Security for future retirees, changes that would not affect the federal benefits he will receive. 

Jay Root is a native of Liberty. He never knew any reporters growing up, and he has never taken a journalism class in his life. But somehow he got hooked on the news business. It all started when he walked into the offices of The Daily Texan, his college newspaper, during his last year at the University of Texas in 1987. He couldn't the resist the draw: it was the the biggest collection of misfits ever assembled. After graduating, he took a job at a Houston chemical company and realized it wasn't for him. Soon he was applying for an unpaid internship at the Houston Post in 1990, and it turned into a full-time job that same year. He has been a reporter ever since. He has covered natural disasters, live music and Texas politics — not necessarily in that order. He was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for a dozen years, most of them good. He also covered politics and the Legislature for The Associated Press before joining the staff of the Tribune.
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