TUA president and founder, Jim Tobin, was quoted by WCMY radio , about the recent Illinois General Assembly Retirees’ pension release.
Chicago — Taxpayers United of America says the Illinois legislature’s generous pensions have a lot do with why the state is broke. The organization announced Tuesday, its analysis of pension contributions and payouts shows the average former lawmaker has paid in less than $53,000 but will get about $1.3 million back in retirement. The organization says the General Assembly system is not about poor civil servants and fairness.
Among the local examples on the group’s list:
- Former St. Rep. Peg Breslin who later served as an appellate court judge paid in $60,000 and gets almost twice that every year for a pension. She has received $1.2 million so far.
- Former St. Rep. Pat Welch paid in $129,000 and has been paid $810,000 so far on his way to a projected $2.8 million.
- Former St. Rep. Tom Walsh, now a LaSalle County Board member put in $91,000 and has received nearly $1 million so far.
- Dennis Hastert, who went on to serve in the U.S. House including a period as the House Speaker, paid in just $19,000 to get $28,000 per year and $413,000 so far.
- Former St. Sen. Gary Dahl paid in just under $50,000 and has received $115,000 so far.
Excerpted data from TUA’s list released Tuesday.
| Illinois General Assembly retirees’ pensions as of January 27, 2016 | ||||||
| reported by Taxpayers United of America | ||||||
| Projections assume life expectancy of 85 and 3% cost of living adjustment compounded annually | ||||||
| Name | Current Annual Pension | Member Contributions to Pension Fund | Age at Retirement | Total Pension Collected to Date | Estimated Lifetime Pension Payout | Employee Contribution % of Estimated Lifetime Payout |
| Peg M. Breslin | $ 112,754 | $ 60,556 | 56 | $ 1,220,719.79 | $ 3,317,816 | 1.8% |
| Patrick D. Welch | $ 85,533 | $ 129,138 | 56 | $ 810,456.80 | $ 2,813,172 | 4.6% |
| Tom P. Walsh | $ 59,099 | $ 91,139 | 55 | $ 994,563.35 | $ 1,447,408 | 6.3% |
| J. Dennis Hastert | $ 28,026 | $ 19,806 | 55 | $ 413,518.22 | $ 772,468 | 2.6% |
| Gary G. Dahl | $ 24,465 | $ 49,965 | 70 | $ 115,274.13 | $ 363,819 | 13.7% |
