Perry's On-the-Job Retirement Lifts Pension Perk From Shadows Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune Gov. Rick Perry's decision has increased his take-home pay by more than $90,000 a year. An obscure 1991 provision dealing with state pension benefits was only a few paragraphs long, and it escaped public notice at the time. Even the lawmakers who passed it said they did not know what the fine print accomplished until it became law. But 20 years later, Gov. Rick Perry - and an elite group of other veteran politicians - can thank Government Code 813.503 for the lucrative pension benefits they are allowed to collect without leaving office. Politicians" pension records are private, so it is unknown how many are taking advantage of the provision. But any state representative, senator or nonjudicial state elected official who meets the age and service requirements is entitled to some benefit under the law, at wildly varying amounts depending on the official's highest average state salary and individual circumstances, Employees Retirement System officials say. Mr. Perry invoked the provision last year, disclosing in December that he had increased his take-home pay by more than $90,000 a year through his on-the-job retirement. He also makes $150,000 a year as governor. His decision provided the first opportunity for a public, in-depth look at a retirement perk that was quietly enhanced and slipped into the law. In Texas, the considerable pension benefits given to politicians are exempt from government transparency laws and not subject to ethics disclosure rules. But Mr. Perry, a presidential candidate before dropping out last month, had to reveal the pension payments to the Federal Election Commission. The unexpected news that he was already collecting retirement benefits stirred disbelief from critics and open-government advocates. They wondered how a politician could "retire" without leaving work - or having to tell anyone about it. "Anytime taxpayers" money is involved, they should have the right to know how it is being spent," said Keith Elkins, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. They are being denied the opportunity to voice their support, or opposition, to such policies. Mr. Perry, who made the elimination of lavish Congressional perks a centerpiece of his unsuccessful presidential campaign, declined to release the paperwork he completed to get the early pension. But he noted that the public already knew he took his. And he said he would be foolish not to. "I would suggest to you that it's rather inappropriate if you've earned something if you don't take it and take care of your family," Mr. Perry said. This was put into place by the Legislature, and if your point is it's not appropriate, then the Legislature will change it. There has not exactly been a rush to eliminate the provision, which many politicians, past and present, say they were not aware of until Mr. Perry ran for president. Among them is a former state senator, Bob Glasgow, Democrat of Stephenville, who carried the pension revision in the Senate in 1991. He said he did not know he had sponsored a new perk - or that it was of particular interest to Bob Bullock, then the lieutenant governor. Mr. Bullock, who ran state government like a ward boss when Democrats ruled Texas, was adept at passing laws with minimal or no public attention. Mr. Glasgow said he first learned that Mr. Bullock had used the law to pad the tiny part-time salary given to legislators and lieutenant governors - $7,200 a year - after Mr. Perry disclosed that he had used the same law. Mr. Bullock, who died in 1999, voluntarily disclosed in 1992 that he was collecting a pension, but it became a hot topic only when reporters began digging into the circumstances of Mr. Perry's retirement. Mr. Glasgow said he would not have favored the pension perk then and does not now. "That's just got the tenor of double dipping," he said. The legislation's House sponsor, Nolan Robnett, Republican of Lubbock, said he was vaguely aware that Mr. Bullock wanted the retirement language but did not know Mr. Bullock had used it until the bill had become law.