Appointments boost pensions of former state lawmakers

ST. LOUIS -- Two former state lawmakers stand to reap rich pensions by recent appointments to the Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission.

Sen. David Klarich and Rep. John Hickey, both of suburban St. Louis, resigned their legislative seats when appointed to the commission earlier this month by Gov. Bob Holden.

The new jobs boosted their salaries to $94,029 a year, triple the $31,351 that lawmakers earn annually. Their pensions also are going up.

For example, the pension Klarich will draw at retirement jumped to $47,014 a year, up from the $18,288 he would have received otherwise.

Klarich and Hickey became members of a select retirement plan designed for "administrative law judges." Not only do they draw more generous pensions than regular state employees, but a special law lets them avoid the requirement to hold their jobs 12 years to earn full benefits, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday.

Adding up all their years

To reach the threshold, they can count all their time in other state government jobs. By contrast, regular state workers have been able to transfer only five years of service between pension plans, though that rose to eight under a bill the governor signed last week.

Critics say the labor commission's unique retirement plan lets the governor use big taxpayer-funded pensions as bargaining chips with legislators.

"That commission has traditionally been a political tradeoff dumping ground," said Sen. John Loudon, R-Ballwin. "It's ripe for abuse. You ought to get a pension based on real service."

A study group appointed by Gov. Bob Holden went further. It recommended in March that the special retirement plan for administrative law judges be abolished. Otherwise, the state is vulnerable to a lawsuit from state employees demanding equal protection under the law, the group's report said.

With 12 years of service, members of the special plan can retire at age 65 and draw half their salaries as pensions. By contrast, similarly situated retirees in the regular system would draw only about 20 percent of their salaries.

The study group found that criteria for membership in the administrative judge plan is inconsistent.

For instance, the plan leaves out some lawyers with judicial roles, such as those who weigh evidence in utility cases. But it covers some nonlawyers, such as the head of the board that handles labor union certification.