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On April 17, The Oregonian updated its database of the pension benefits of nearly 144,000 retired public employees.
The daily newspaper began publishing the numbers more than a decade ago, when overly generous policies commonly juiced payouts to more than 100% of workers’ final salaries. Reforms have reined in that largesse, but many of the big earners, such as former Oregon Health & Science University president Dr. Joe Robertson ($997,489) and onetime University of Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti ($616,839), were grandfathered in. Worth noting: The median pension is $28,464, so not every retiree is golfing in Palm Springs.
Like any large database, The Oregonian’s shows a lot of things. One finding less sexy than the highly paid outliers: the modest payouts for Oregon’s last five governors.
The reason: Oregon pays its top executive $98,600, which the Council of State Governments says is less than all but Arizona, Colorado and Maine, and 51% less than the national average.
You may take issue with their accomplishments—WW certainly has, at times—but these five oversaw tens of thousands of employees and billions of dollars in state budgets. Their reward is a Top Ramen retirement:
