Pension Congressional Club Dippers - Twice- Double Get Paid of Congress Members Over 100 ’ Expense All At Taxpayers

May 2014

Carl DeMaio Report By

Congressional Double Dippers Club Report

2014 Hall of Shame Awards

The Mega-Rich Dipper Rep. Scott Peters

Rep. Scott Peters is a multi-millionaire and the 6th wealthiest member of Congress. Despite the fact that the City of San Diego’s Pension System is billions in debt, Peters took his pension early – and has received over $100,000 since he turned 50.

The Big Dipper Rep. Joyce Beatty

Rep. Joyce Beatty gets the award for receiving the most in taxpayer salary and pension - taking a whopping $427,000 from the taxpayers, which is more than the President of the United States.

The Triple Dipper Rep. John Garamendi

Rep. John Garamendi gets the award for receiving his salary and multiple government pensions all at the same time. Garamendi’s multiple government pensions tally up to over $88,800 a year. It’s hard to be a double-dipper, but even harder to be a triple and quadruple dipper!

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What is a “Double-Dipper”?

Double Dippers: government employees who draw a paycheck from the taxpayers at the same time they draw a government pension. Members of Congress receive $174,000 a year from the taxpayers, but 102 of them also take a second taxpayer- funded allowance in the form of a government pension.1

Double dipping forces taxpayers to pay twice – once for their pensions, another for their salaries. The extra cost – effectively a double payout for politicians, is particularly egregious given how generous their salaries already are.

“It’s wrong,” says Carl DeMaio. “A pension system is intended to support you at a time you are no longer working. When you are a Member of Congress and already making a lavish salary, you should not be able to tap into both.”

Who is Double Dipping?

Over one hundred other Members of Congress currently double-dip at taxpayer expense. Some of the double dippers are particularly egregious and have made it into the Hall of Shame. For example, Rep. Joyce Beatty is a double dipping and now makes more money than the President – taking in a whopping $427,000!

Rep. Scott Peters is also an egregious example of double dipping. Scott Peters is a multi-millionaire who ranks as the 6th richest Member of Congress. Not content with his millions, Scott Peters opted to take a government pension early – and has received over $100,000 since he turned 50.

These so-called double-dippers are both Republicans and Democrats, Senators and Congressman, and many are in positions of leadership. The only commonality is their desire to help themselves to as much taxpayer money as possible.

1 For the purpose of this report, we excluded any pension derived from military service. 2014 Congressional “Double Dippers” Report Page 3

Why is Double Dipping Wrong?

No one should get rich off public service – and Members of Congress are already well paid and should not be padding their earnings at taxpayers’ expense.

The fact that most government pension systems are in severe financial distress raises an additional problem with the practice of double dipping.

For example, Rep. Scott Peters was a member of the San Diego City Council responsible for the city becoming known as “Enron by the Sea” largely for his decision to spike pensions while illegally underfunding the city pension system.

Members of Congress like Scott Peters who double-dip on these government pensions only deepen the structural problems these pension systems face.

“If fleecing the taxpayer twice wasn’t bad enough, politicians like Scott Peters are drawing from pensions already under-funded to the tune of trillions of dollars - money the public eventually will have to make up.” – Carl DeMaio

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Carl DeMaio’s Plan to End Double-Dipping By Members of Congress:

Carl DeMaio authored the landmark San Diego Pension Reform Initiative and successfully led the campaign to implement his ambitious reform package. Now DeMaio is proposing to take Pension Reform to the national level – starting with major reforms to the pensions received by Members of Congress.

Step 1: End the Congressional Double Dippers Club DeMaio’s plan would deduct the amount of any government pension from the regular salary of a Member of Congress. This would ensure that no Member of Congress is paid twice from the taxpayer.

Step 2: Scrap Congressional Pensions DeMaio also proposes to eliminate the lavish Congressional Pension Program and replace it with Social Security and a 401(k) contribution benchmarked to the average contribution received by workers in each Member’s district.

“I’m running to reform Congress because I believe that elected officials entrusted with taxpayer dollars should be safeguarding those funds rather than personally enriching themselves.” – Carl DeMaio

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THE LIST OF DOUBLE DIPPERS

102 Members of Congress Who Are Double-Dipping At Taxpayers’ Expense

Barber, Ron D Arizona-02 $48,942 Arizona Retired System Defined Benefit Beatty, Joyce D Ohio-03 $253,323 Ohio Public Employees Retirement System Bishop, Rob R Utah-01 $29,276 Utah State Retirement System Bishop, Sanford D Georgia-02 $6,397 Georgia Legislative Retirement System Blackburn, R Tennessee-07 $4,299 Tennessee Legislative Pension Marsha Blumenauer, Earl D Oregon-03 $37,884 Oregon Public Employee Retirement System Blumenthal, D Connecticut $47,080 Connecticut Retirement Division Richard Senate Blunt, Roy R Missouri Senate $36,721 State of Missouri Boxer, Barbara D California Senate $4,445 Marin County Employees Retirement Assoc Brady, Robert A D Pennsylvania-01 $8,727 City of Philadelphia, PA

Butterfield, G K D North Carolina-01 $55,331 State of North Carolina Capps, Lois D California-24 $68,768 Multiple Cardin, Ben D Maryland Senate $5,627 State of Maryland Carper, Tom D Delaware Senate $33,986 Delaware Pension Defined Benefit Plan Carter, John R Texas-31 $76,459 Texas Judicial Retirement System Clay, William L D Missouri-01 $21,090 Missouri State Employees Jr Retirement Sys Cleaver, D Missouri-05 $21,976 Kansas City, MO Pension Plan Emanuel Clyburn, James D South Carolina-06 $54,834 South Carolina Retirement System

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E Coffman, Mike R Colorado-06 $55,547 State of Colorado Cohen, Steve D Tennessee-09 $23,129 Tennessee Legislative Pension

Cook, Paul R California-08 $40,695 Multiple Cornyn, John R Texas Senate $65,383 Multiple Costa, Jim D California-16 $11,205 Multiple Crenshaw, Ander R Florida-04 $13,168 State of Florida Cuellar, Henry D Texas-28 $38,563 Texas Employees Retirement System Culberson, John R Texas-07 $26,984 Texas Retirement Annuity Cummings, Elijah D Maryland=07 $15,950 Maryland State Employees E Pension Plan Dent, Charlie R Pennsylvania-15 $16,439 Pennsylvania Employee Retirement System Enyart, William D Illinois-12 $9,489 Multiple Eshoo, Anna D California-18 $11,728 County of San Mateo, CA

Farr, Sam D California-20 $19,280 California Public Empl Retirement System Fattah, Chaka D Pennsylvania-02 $4,586 Pennsylvania Employee Retirement System Feinstein, D California Senate $54,925 City & County of San Francisco, Dianne CA Frankel, Lois J D Florida-22 $10,947 State of Florida Fudge, Marcia D Ohio-11 $48,000 Ohio Public Employees' L Retirement System Garamendi, D California-03 $88,800 Multiple John Gerlach, Jim R Pennsylvania-06 $15,400 Pennsylvania Employee Retirement System Gowdy, Trey R South Carolina-04 $7,173 SC Judges-Solicitors Retirement System Green, Al D Texas-09 $96,948 Texas State County & Retirement Green, Gene D Texas-29 $51,862 Texas Employees Retirement System

Hall, Ralph M R Texas-04 $65,748 Texas Legislative Pension Hanabusa, Colleen D Hawaii-01 $22,158 State of Hawaii

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Hastings, Doc R Washington- $2,469 Washington Pension 04 Hirono, Mazie K D Hawaii $46,556 Hawaii Employees Retirement Senate System Honda, Mike D California-17 $50,014 Multiple Hoyer, Steny H D Maryland-05 $20,481 Maryland State Retirement Agency Isakson, Johnny R Georgia $8,019 Georgia Legislative Retirement Senate System Johnson, Eddie D Texas-30 $35,000 Texas Legislative Pension Bernice Johnson, Hank D Georgia-04 $11,000 Dekalb County, GA Joyce, David P R Ohio-14 $60,000 Ohio Public Employee Retirement System

Keating, Bill D Massachusetts-09 $110,743 Commonwealth of Massachusetts Kildee, Dan D Michigan-05 $53,716 Genesee County King, Angus I Maine Senate $30,488 Maine Public Employees Retirement System King, Pete R New York-02 $39,000 New York State Employee Retirement Sys Lance, Leonard R New Jersey-07 $23,544 State of New Jersey Landrieu, Mary D Louisiana Senate $15,000 - Louisiana State Employees L $50,000 Retirement Sys Lowenthal, D California-47 $46,941 California Public Employee Alan Retirement System Lowey, Nita M D New York-17 $10,302 New York State & Local Retirement Luetkemeyer, R Missouri-03 $12,600 State of Missouri Blaine Manchin, Joe D West Virginia $48,282 West Virginia Public Employee Senate Retirement System

Marchant, Kenny R Texas-24 $36,000 Texas Legislative Pension McCaskill, Claire D Missouri $40,031 Missouri Defined Benefit Plan Senate McClintock, Tom R California-04 $9,579 Multiple McDermott, Jim D Washington- $5,729 Washington Dept of Retirement 07 Systems

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Moore, Gwen D Wisconsin-04 $13,628 Wisconsin Legislative Pension Nadler, Jerrold D New York-10 $20,383 New York State Employee Retirement Sys Napolitano, Grace D California-32 $6,356 California Public Employee Retirement System Neal, Richard E D Massachusett- $19,578 Springfield, MA Retirement 01 System Negrete-McLeod, D California-35 $3,348 CalPERS Gloria Nelson, Bill D Florida Senate $44,995 State of Florida Nolan, Rick D Minnesota-08 $25,068 State of Minnesota Nugent, R Florida-11 $72,339 Florida Division of Retirement Richard Pascrell, Bill Jr D New Jersey-09 $56,405 State of New Jersey Pastor, Ed D Arizona-07 $27,581 Arizona Elected Officials Retirement Sys Peters, Scott D California-52 $20,298 SDCERS Petri, Tom R Wisconsin-06 $14,878 Wisconsin Retirement Fund Pitts, Joe R Pennsylvania-16 $90,867 Pennsylvania Employee Retirement System Poe, Ted R Texas-02 $126,743 Multiple Posey, Bill R Florida-08 $14,495 State of Florida FRS Reichert, Dave R Washington-08 $109,101 Washington Dept of Retirement Systems

Risch, James E R Idaho Senate $34,721 Idaho Public Employee Retirement System Roybal-Allard, D California-40 $2,501 - California Legislators Retirement Lucille $5,000 System Ruppersberger, D Maryland-02 $91,074 Baltimore County, MD Dutch Sanders, Bernie I Vermont $4,812 City of Burlington, VT Senate Schakowsky, Jan D Illinois-09 $24,420 State of Illinois Schwartz, Allyson D Pennsylvania- $18,340 Pennsylvania Employee 13 Retirement System Scott, David D Georgia-13 $11,944 Georgia Legislative Retirement System Sensenbrenner, F R Wisconisn-05 $29,861 Wisconsin Legislative Pension

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James Jr Serrano, Jose E D New York-15 $14,200 New York State Employee Retirement Sys Sires, Albio D New Jersey- $38,000 State of New Jersey 08

Slaughter, Louise D New York-25 $9,296 New York State Employee M Retirement Sys Speier, Jackie D California-14 $6,000 California Legislators Retirement System Stabenow, D Michigan Senate $61,380 State of Michigan Debbie Thompson, D Mississippi-02 $9,000 State of Mississippi Bennie G Tonko, Paul D New York-20 $64,641 New York State Employee Retirement Sys Vargas, Juan D California-51 $20,304 SDCERS Walberg, Tim R Michigan-07 $58,951 Michigan Legislative Retirement System Waters, Maxine D California-43 $5,720 California Legislators Retirement System Waxman, Henry D California-33 $5000 - California Public Employee A $15,000 Retirement System Wilson, Frederica D Florida-24 $82,158 State of Florida

Wilson, Joe R South Carolina- $39,364 Multiple 02 Young, Don R Alaska-All $5,484 Alaska Pension

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