State legislators earning pension before retirement

It may be surprising to learn that after legislators in South Carolina passed a law that would allow them to collect their pension, while still working for the state full time, their annual incomes have nearly tripled.

Thomas Frank, of USA TODAY, investigates the disturbing, yet legal, actions our legislators are taking. “More than 4,100 legislators in 33 states are positioned to benefit from special retirement laws that they and their predecessors have enacted to boost their pensions by up to $100,000 a year, a USA TODAY investigation found. Even as legislators cut basic state services and slash benefits for police, teachers and other workers, they have preserved pension laws that grant themselves perks unavailable to voters they serve or workers they direct.”

Frank also includes an interactive map to help understand just how “state lawmakers pump up their pension in ways you can’t”.