Jim Tobin’s National Taxpayers United of Illinois has revealed the top 50 pensions for the General Assembly Retirement Fund.

It doesn’t have many pensioners, but the legislative retirement fund has some big payouts.

Part of the reason is that statewide elected officials can opt in.

While he was in office, for instance, Governor Jim Thompson announced that he would be in the same pension fund that regular state employees paid into.  Right before leaving office that changed.  He transferred his pension credits to the GA Retirement System.

Indeed many of the largest pensions you see below are the result of an ex-legislator getting a well-paying job for a while and transferring in the pension credits in their new public pension fund back to the more lucrative legislative system.

Tobin’s press release follows:

TOP 50 GA PENSIONS REVEAL MILLION DOLLAR PAYOUTS AS TAX INCREASE LOOMS

CHICAGO–Jim Tobin, President of National Taxpayers United of Illinois (NTUI), today released the latest pension study of pension researcher Bill Zettler: the Top Fifty pensions received by former members of the Illinois General Assembly.

“Governor Quinn and the lame duck General Assembly are desperate to increase tax revenues any way they can to ensure that these outrageous, lavish pensions are available to themselves when they retire.

“Under the current pension program, General Assembly members are guaranteed to be millionaires if they can collect for only eight to ten years.  Protecting this rite of passage has become their highest priority, despite the terrible financial situation in which most Illinoisans find themselves.

“Under the guise of securing the financial future of the Illinois general fund, Quinn and his conspirators are trying to push any tax increases that they can.”

“If Quinn can’t get HB 174 with the 67% income tax increase through the house, he will push to get a 33% income tax increase passed.

“At the same time, there are efforts to increase the gasoline tax by an unknown amount, the cigarette tax by $1 per pack, and a new 7-10% sales tax on 39 services.

“The primary objective is to pump 15 billion taxpayer dollars out of taxpayer pockets and into the pension and payroll funds of the robber barons that are bankrupting the great state of Illinois, not to secure the financial future as they would have us believe.”

“Do you recognize any of these pension millionaires? Figures are as of 10/1/2010.  A complete list can be viewed at www.ntui.org.
Mo. Pension         Yearly Pension         Total Pension Paid So Far
Arthur Berman                     $16,459               $197,503           $1,449,640
Judy Barr Topinka              $12,144                 $145,727            $402,229
Jim Edgar                           $10,910                 $130,925             $1,106,372
James R. Thompson           $10,601                 $127,215             $1,547,836
James “Pate” Philip             $10,551                 $126,615             $713,029
Dawn Clark Netsch             $10,143                 $121,720             $1,476,711
Walter Dudycz                     $7,661                 $91,937                $449,128

“Jim Edgar and James R. Thompson engineered the largest tax increases ever passed in Illinois. Arthur Berman was the author of the Berman Tax Increase Amendment. Dawn Clark Netsch never met a tax she didn’t like.”

“I urge members of the Illinois General Assembly to vote in the interest of the constituents they serve and not their own best interest.”

Top 50 General Assembly Pensions as of 10/1/2010
	NAME	Mo. Pension	Yearly Pension	Years Credit		NAME	Mo. Pension	Yearly Pension	Years Credit
	BERMAN, ARTHUR	16,459	197,503	31		KEANE, JAMES	8,596	103,157	20
	TOPINKA, JUDY	12,144	145,727	26		STECZO, TERRY	8,357	100,284	18
	ERWIN, JUDITH	11,790	141,476	20		PARCELLS, MARGARET	8,317	99,809	19
	FRIEDLAND, JOHN	11,379	136,553	25		WOJCIK, KATHLEEN	8,080	96,959	31
	EDGAR, JAMES	10,910	130,925	20		SCHAFFER, JACK	8,011	96,126	24
	THOMPSON, JAMES	10,601	127,215	20		NOVAK, JOHN	7,983	95,795	20
	PETKA, EDWARD	10,583	126,992	30		WINCHESTER, ROBERT	7,899	94,783	20
	PHILIP, JAMES	10,551	126,615	36		BRESLIN, PEG	7,869	94,430	16
	BURRIS, ROLAND	10,450	125,400	20		WEAVER, MICHAEL	7,816	93,792	19
	JONES JR, EMIL	10,195	122,334	36		HALLOCK, JOHN	7,801	93,615	20
	NETSCH, DAWN	10,143	121,720	22		DUDYCZ, WALTER	7,661	91,937	25
	HOMER, THOMAS	10,002	120,021	19		JACOBS, DENNIS	7,617	91,404	28
	HAWKINSON, CARL	9,447	113,367	26		PETERSON, WILLIAM	7,584	91,007	26
	DEGNAN, TIMOTHY	9,346	112,152	20		FAWELL, BEVERLY	7,543	90,521	19
	BOWMAN, H	9,340	112,085	20		MAITLAND JR, JOHN	7,530	90,355	23
	GRANBERG, KURT	9,310	111,716	22		MAROVITZ, WILLIAM	7,419	89,029	18
	KARPIEL, DORIS	9,242	110,906	23		SMITH, IRVIN	7,381	88,568	20
	MCGREW, SAMUEL	9,201	110,407	20		MEYER, JOHN	7,365	88,381	16
	MOLARO, ROBERT	9,067	108,810	16		MOORE, DON	7,354	88,249	18
	DANIELS, LEE	8,944	107,333	32		WOOLARD, LARRY	7,309	87,703	19
	RYDER, WILLIAM	8,909	106,903	20		KUBIK, JACK	7,288	87,450	14
	HARTKE, CHARLES	8,873	106,474	20		RONEN, CAROL	7,276	87,316	15
	KUSTRA, ROBERT	8,824	105,893	18		HARTIGAN, NEIL	7,275	87,295	12
	WATSON, FRANK	8,777	105,321	30		SIEBEN, TODD	7,152	85,828	23
	CAPPARELLI, RALPH	8,604	103,247	34		ODANIEL, WILLIAM	7,079	84,948	24
	Compiled by Bill Zettler    Published by Illinois Taxpayers Education Foundation    (312)427-0087    www.ntui.org

How do legislators manage to hike their pensions so much?

Some get a short-term position paying a lot more than they received in their last year as a state legislator. Former State Senator John Friedland, for example, was hired as a lobbyist by the Elgin Sanitary District for a couple of months as a hefty salary. That boosted his base salary.

Add three percent extra each year, which all on public pensions in Illinois receive and it mounts up over time.

Others like Terry Stezco lose an election and get a well-paying local governmental job. In his case, Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan hired him.

Others get appointed to head state departments. Chuck Hartke, for instance, was appointed Director of the Department of Agriculture.

All can transfer pension credits from the new pension system and their final salaries–upon which their pension is based–back into the General Assembly Retirement System.