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Congress Pension Boost?

Click to see original imageMembers of Congress, now making $57,500 after maneuvering a $12,900 annual increase, currently are moving to perpetuate the style by upping the already sizable pensions for congressional retirees. Members retiring with the maximum allowable service of 32 years would get $3,426 a year more in their pension under the new proposal okayed Friday by the House without debate. The Senate still must act on the measure. The bill would allow solons to figure retirement pay based on the current elevated salary rather than the average of the past three years. The plan was described as “an inducement to get the older members to retire and make room for younger blood.” Under present provisions, a member retiring after this Congress next year would determine his salary base by averaging his $44,625 annual salary of 1976, and the $57,500 in each of 1977 and 1970. The would come out to an average of $53,208. The measure passed Friday would eliminate the three-year averaging provision and the, member’s current pay of $57,500 would be the base for determining the size of the pension, a base that would- be $4,292 higher than the base as determined in current law. According to a United Press International dispatch, a member retiring at the maximum pension of 80 per cent of his salary base would receive an annual pension of $42,574. If he retired under the provision in the bill, he would get a pension of $46,000, and increase of $3,426 over the present provision. Our lawmakers already have hit the treasury pretty hard in the past year with their whopping salary raises. Now, before they rush a pension boost through, we think the entire pension plan ought to be laid out in black and white for the enlightenment of the citizenry, and sufficient time allowed for public input and debate.