Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Let me introduce you to Stephen Acquario. He’s a lobbyist who spends much of his time in New York’s State House. He is the executive director and counsel of the New York State Association of Counties. He earns $204,000 a year—more than the governor of New York. He also gets to drive around in a Ford Explorer, his company car. And even though Acquario is NOT a government employee, he IS entitled to a full public pension.
According to a recent review by the Associated Press, Acquario is one of hundreds of lobbyists working in a number of states who qualify for public pensions “because they represent associations of counties, cities and school boards.” The Associated Press reported that state legislatures had “granted them access decades ago on the premise that they serve governments and the public. In many cases, such access also includes state health care benefits.”
Mark Karlin, editor of BuzzFlash at Truthout, wrote a commentary on the subject of lobbyists getting taxpayer funded pensions. In his commentary, Karlin said that during a period of austerity “when a key goal of those with means is to cut pensions that have been fairly earned by public employees, it is astonishing to read that some lobbyists in 40% of US states get paid pensions from the public trough.” He added, “Many of these non-governmental employees represent lobbying associations at the forefront of trying to reduce public pensions while ensuring that they keep their own, even though their salaries are not paid by any governmental body.” He said it was “preposterously hypocritical.” He added that it was “another scam wrapped in a lofty excuse”—pointing out that Acquario claims “that his group gives local government a voice in the statehouse, and the perk of a state pension makes it easier to hire people with government expertise.”
Karlin continued:
The revolving door of incestuous government insiders turning around and becoming lobbyists — in this case working for a guy who makes more than senators and most governors — just won’t supply good enough personnel unless the taxpayers pay for private employee pensions, Acquario argues. Say what?”
Keith Brainard, research director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, said, “There is liability for taxpayers. Providing a pension benefit involves some amount of risk for the state and when you provide access to employees of entities that are not in control of the state.” As the AP reported, “Unlike state government, for example, these groups aren’t bound by salary restrictions — significant salary increases would result in increasing pension benefits.”
Michael Kink of the Strong Economy for All Coalition said, “It’s clear that there’s a big problem with hypocrisy when these lobbyists have been pushing austerity and benefit cuts for other government workers while they themselves enjoy solid state pensions. Do as I say, not as I do’ seems to be their approach on retirement cuts.” Kink added “Workers who have faced cuts in pay and pensioners have a right to be angry — as do voters.”
According to the AP report, these groups that lobby for states and counties take positions “that could conflict with taxpayer interests, such as advocating to weaken caps on property tax increases and boosting state school aid.”
From Occupy.com:
For a large number of state lobbyists, a full state pension is part of the benefits package. Despite being employees of private organizations and drawing private salaries — sometimes in excess of any state employee’s — in at least 20 states, hundreds receive state-paid retirement benefits…
The states that have such provisions include Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Washington State.
SOURCES
Lobbyists can get public pensions in 20 states: Critics question whether system hurts taxpayers (Boston Globe/AP)
Where’s the Outrage? Some Lobbyists Get Taxpayer Funded Pensions in 20 States (Truth-Out)
Why Are Privately Employed Lobbyists Getting State-Funded Pensions? (Occupy.com)
Lobbyists getting State pensions (CBS Albany)
State Pensions — A Loophole for Lobbyists (AARP)
N.J. group funded by tax dollars also represents private interests (NorthJersey.com)
Questions over spending by NJ Counties Association (Trentonian/Associated Press)
Lobbyists Collecting New York State Pensions (WGRZ)
Private Lobbyists Earning Taxpayer Funded Pensions And Healthcare (Forbes)
FURTHER READING
Lobbyist got $99,000 state pension, then filed for unemployment, too (NorthJersey.com)
Top senator: Axe pensions for private lobbyists (Pennsylvania Independent)
How a reporter discovered lobbyists get state pensions (Associated Press)
@geneh:
Seriously, Gene, what works on them won’t work on me. Because I am just me, a little stick figure girl reporter. Who is trying not to entirely slip into The Black Hole of Cynicism.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
blhlls,
Sorry for the delay in your comment posting. The spam filter had you for completely inscrutable reasons.
Seriously, Sqweak. I’ve made better propagandists than you literally cry “uncle”. I’ve even had them try to hire me to get me to leave them alone. You’re going to have to step up your game. I’m not even getting a workout.
Was that supposed to be a refutation or a rebuttal?
Thanks for the laugh, Sqweakly Fromm, Girl Amateur.
@GeneH:
A weak, blathery superficial analysis does not require much in the way of response. It seemed to me like you were just going through the motions, anyway. Was I wrong? Was that supposed to be a serious dissection and/or analysis?
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
OS,
Indeed. There must be a talent shortage issue with the paid trolls these days. I remember when we used to get real club wielding trolls that came roaring out from under the bridge with freshly eaten children on their malodorous breath. Now? We just get stick figures.
They aren’t meant to hurt.
They are meant to disarm.
Your weak non-responsive reply says nothing more to me than “victory”.
I couldn’t hurt your feelings anyway. Based on past postings? You don’t have any. So why try? Leaving you walk away with the counter-argument equivalent of “uh-uh” and sticking your tongue out is fine with me.
Gene,
She forgets she is posting to a blog populated with people who are professionals at detecting bullshit when we see it. Simple actually, because her methods are simplistic and transparent. We did not just ride in on the watermelon truck, as she seems to think. We must do something to attract a a better quality troll. Her lack of empathy gives her away as a sociopath anyway, so that’s not hard to detect.
@geneh:
Your dissections are really fun! They don’t hurt, they just kind of tickle. I guess that is because you don’t go very deep.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
(PS: I ought to get a Wryness Award for this one!)
Waz the matter, Wiz? Trying to pull that curtain closed again?
In California, the state public pension system includes persons employed by a wide variety of other organizations as well as the state itself. Depending on the option chosen by the employer organization as to the level of benefits, the contribution to be made by the member organization/employee to fund the pension is determined. How much of a the contribution is made by the employee rather than the employing organization is a contract matter between those parties. I believe most employees pay about 10 percent of their salary into the system. The system operates so that it is funded by employer/employee contributions and investments rather than some type of general funding from the state. In recent years, the state has attempted to borrow funds from the system to make up shortfalls.
OS,
Yep.
Let me dissect that for you.
1) Oblique introduction of partisanship by implying the Tea Party of both spontaneous and a good thing.
2) Feigned outrage when it is pointed out that the Tea Party is anything but a grassroots movement and is indeed a prime example of astroturfing in the political sense, not the stadium sense.
3) Protestation that you are non-partisan and yet you weakly endorse the major party from which the Tea Party derives it’s membership.
4) Highlight again what you think is good about the Tea Party.
Now in looking who has an interest in the Tea Party, one comes to the Kochs. When one asks what do the Kochs want, the answer is for people to see the Tea Party and limited government as a good thing, unlimited pay for play access to government by expanding corporate personality and allowing unlimited untraceable money into the electoral and lobbying systems, the privatization of every government service for profit, and the ascension of the fascist/corporatist state while stripping rights from citizens (read: people who aren’t billionaires) as fast as they can. Why they want those things is obvious: they want to run the country as a private for profit enterprise and to Hell with the Constitution.
But you were the one who brought party to the game, Girl Propagandist.
Make no mistake about it.
The how, the who and the why are pretty clear if you know the players and the methodology.
@orneryscribble:
Serious discussion??? WTF, if that thing is on a salt dome, there’s about to be another ocean there pretty soon. Cruise ships are going to be stopping off in Lafayette so people can go shopping.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Gene, note that she rushed to be the first to comment in the Bayou Corne piece. Usual corporatist paid shill stuff trying to derail an enviornmental thread before a serious discussion can get started.
No, Sqweakly Fromm, Girl Shill.
I write a regular series of columns here on propaganda and much like Potter Stewart and pornography, I know it when I see it.
@GeneH:
Yes Gene, and a rousing endorsement it was, wasn’t it!
Vote Republican! They’re less stupidly harmful than Democrats!
Oh, I am sure that will be propelling people off their couches to vote! Let me guess, you work in a PR firm, and you recognized the dangerous appeal in what I said, right?
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Gene,
I was about to ask her if that gig pays very well.
To pose that statement as if the Tea Party is some kind of spontaneous grassroots effort?
Is partisan propaganda and utter bullshit of the highest order, Sqweakly.
The Koch’s exploit ignorance to get people to act against their best interests by appealing to a rather simplistic jingoistic appeal to their patriotism, a cartoon version understanding of history and no understanding of civics let alone Constitutional Law.
Also, let’s look at the inherent contradiction in your denial above:
“I am also not much of a ‘joiner’ with any political or partisan group. I think both parties are full of idiots, and that the Republicans, by their nature, are just less harmful idiots and less dangerous to civilization, in general.”
You claim to be non-partisan and then immediately endorse one party over the other.
Pure. Genius.