Table 3.13
State Legislative Retirement Benefits
Data publication year: 2023 (showing) 2022
| FIPS | State or other jurisdiction |
Participation | Requirement for regular retirement |
Employee contribution rate | Benefit formula |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Alabama | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 02 | Alaska | Optional; same as the state employee retirement plan. | Four tiers, and requirements vary depending upon tier. Detailed information set forth in Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) plan comparison chart: http://doa.alaska.gov/drb/pdf/pers/PERSTierChart.pdf. | Four tiers, and requirements vary depending upon tier. Detailed information set forth in Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) plan comparison chart: http://doa.alaska.gov/drb/pdf/pers/PERSTierChart.pdf. | Four tiers, and requirements vary depending upon tier. Detailed information set forth in Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) plan comparison chart: http://doa.alaska.gov/drb/pdf/pers/PERSTierChart.pdf. |
| 04 | Arizona | Mandatory. | There are four Tier and requirements vary depending upon tier. Detailed information set forth in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) plan comparison chart: https://drb.alaska.gov/employee/dbrplan.html #persintro | Tier I, II, III is 6.75% | There are four tiers and requirements vary depending upon tier. Detailed information set forth in Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) plan comparison chart: https://drb.alaska.gov/employee/dbrplan.html #pension |
| 05 | Arkansas | Mandatory retirement plan, same as state employees. | Legislators vest upon 10 years of service to the state. | Legislator: 5.25%. | Years of service x average salary (3 years) times 2%. |
| 06 | California | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 08 | Colorado | Mandatory; same plan as the state employee retirement plan. | PERA: Age 65 with 5 years of service; age 55 with 35 years of service; when age + service equals 86 or more (min. age of 55). State Defined Contribution Plan (DCP): no age requirement and immediate vesting. | Legislator: 11%. | 2.5% x FAS x years of service, capped at 100% of FAS. DCP benefit depends upon contributions and investment return. |
| 09 | Connecticut | Mandatory; same plan as the state employee reitrement plan. | Age 55 with 10 years credited service; age 65 with 5 years credited service. Reduced benefit available with earlier retirement ages. Legislators participate in either Tier I, Tier II, Tier IIA, Tier III or Tier IV of the State Employees’ Retirement System, depending on the date their state service began. | Legislator: 0-5% depending on the tier. | (1.33% x average annual salary) + (5% x average salary over "breakpoint”) x credited service up to 35 years. After 2009, increase breakpoint by 6% per year rounded to nearest $100. |
| 10 | Delaware | Mandatory; house plan same as state employees. | Senate: 62 year age minimum, 10 years of service. House: Elected before 2012 : Age 60 with 5 years of credited service or 55 with 10 years of service. Elected after 2012 : 65 with 10 years of service or 60 with 20 years of service. Vesting at 10 years. | Senate: 5% of gross pay after 1st $6,000. | Senate: state share and employee share |
| 12 | Florida | Optional. | DB Plan: Six to eight years to vest depending on the start date of service. Retirement at age 62 with at least 6 service years or 30 years of service regardless of age; or, retirement at age 65 with at least 8 service years or 33 years of service regardless of age. DC Plan: One year to vest, retirement at any age. | Legislator: 3%. State: 56.75%. | DB plan: 3% x years of creditable service x average final compensation (average of highest 5 years). DC plan: dependent upon investment experience. |
| 13 | Georgia | Optional | Normal retirement: 62. Early retirement: 60. 8 years of servce required. | $165, which is shared between the legislator and the state | Creditable service x $50 |
| 15 | Hawaii | Optional | Age 55 w/5 years of service, or any age w/10 years of service.Time requirement includes five years if age 55, or 10 years if any age. | 9.8% of monthly base salary. | 3% of average final compensation (average of highest three years of earning) x number of years of service. |
| 16 | Idaho | Mandatory; same plan as public employees (PERSI) except legislators are automatically vested. | Age 65 with 5 years of service; reduced benefit at age 55 with 5 years of service. | Legislator: 7.16%. State: 11.94%. | Average monthly salary for highest 42 consecutive months x 2% x months of credited service. |
| 17 | Illinois | Optional | Age 55 with minimum of 5 years of service. | Legislator: 11.4% | First 4 years x 3.0% = 12%; next 2 years x 3.5% = 7.0%; next 2 years x 4.0% = 8.0%; next 4 years x 4.5% = 18.0%; next 8 years x 5.0% = 40.0%. |
| 18 | Indiana | Mandatory; not the same plan as the state employee retirement plan. | Senate: 59.5 years and 10 years of service. House: Vested Immediately, and Account Balance may be withdrawn any following separation of service. | Legislator: 5%. State: 14%. | Senate: N/A House: Member pays 5% State contributions are determined by the INPRS Board. |
| 19 | Iowa | Senate: mandatory House: optional | Senate: Age 65 with 6 years of service. House: 7 years of service or 65 years old. | Employee: 6.29% | Accrue retirement on salary and per diem. |
| 20 | Kansas | Optional. | Age 65; age 62 with 5 years of service. | Legislators: 6% of the annualized salary. | No information available. |
| 21 | Kentucky | Mandatory. | DB Plan: Vesting after 5 years of service. | N/A. | N/A. |
| 22 | Louisiana | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 23 | Maine | Mandatory, though it may be waived in certain situations. The legislator retirement program is different than the state employee program. | Age 60 if 10 years of service on 7/1/93; age 62 if less than 10 years of service on 7/1/93; age 65 if less than 5 years of service on 7/1/11. Reduced benefit available for earlier retirement. | Legislator: 7.65%. State: contribution is actuarially determined. | 2% of average final compensation (the average of the 3 high salary years) times years of service. An age reduction factor is applied for each full year the legislator is below their normal retirement age (60, 62 or 65). |
| 24 | Maryland | Mandatory. | Age 60 with 8 years; age 50 with 8+ years creditable service for early reduced retirement. | Legislator: 7% of annual salary. | 3% of legislative salary for each year of service up to 22 years 3 months. Benefits are recalculated when legislative salaries are changed. |
| 25 | Massachusetts | Mandatory unless they are already receiving a pension from the Massachusetts State Employee Retirement System. Same as state employee retirment plan. | Vesting after 10 years. Eligible to retire at ae 55 or 60 after 10 years of service depending on their hire date; eligibile to retire at any age after 20 years of service. | Legislator: 9%, although some legislators are grandfathered at lower rates. | Age factor x years of creditable service x FAS. FAS = average of highest 60 or 36 months depending on when service began. |
| 26 | Michigan | Mandatory; same as state employee retirement plan. | 401(k) and 457 following IRS rules, vested 100% after 4 years. | The state contributes 4% of annual salary with up to a 3% match of the member/employee contributions. | The state contributes 4% of annual salary with up to a 3% match of the Member/employee contribution. |
| 27 | Minnesota | Mandatory, same as state employees. | At the age of 55 or later, provided that legislative service has ended, the legislator may elect a distribution in the form of a lump sum or monthly annuity. There is no minimum service requirement. The legislative member is vested upon the start of the participation in the pension plan | 6% for the legislative member (goes down to 5.5% on 7/1/23) and 6.25% for the state (unchanged on 7/1/23) | The Unclassified pension plan is a defined contribution retirement plan with benefits based on the value of the participant’s account when they retire or start collecting their benefits. The account balance is comprised of the member’s contributions, the state’s contributions, plus any investment gain or losses |
| 28 | Mississippi | Senate: Mandatory House: Optional; Senate same as state employees. | Senate: "Depends on the tier in which you fall when first elected or began State service: and vested 1) Pre 6/30/1992 - 6/30/2007: Vested at 4 years; Eligible to retire with 25 years of service or age 60 2) 7/1/2007 – 6/30/2011: Vested at 8 years; Eligible to retire with 25 years of service or age 60 and vested, and 3) 7/1/11 or later: Vested at 8 years; Eligible to retire with 30 years of service or age 60 and vested." House: 60 years old and vested according to hiring date. | Senate: Regular Retirement - 17.40% State, 9.00% member. | Legislators who qualify for regular state retirement benefits also automatically qualify for the legislators’ supplemental benefits. Regular—2% x average compensation x years of service up to and including 25 years of service + 2.5% x average compensation x service in excess of 25 years. Average compensation is calculated using the highest 4 years of compensation. Supplement—1% x average compensation x years of legislative service through 25 years + 1.25% x average compensation x years of service in excess of 25. |
| 29 | Missouri | Mandatory | Senate: For those hired on or before 12/31/2010: Vesting at 6 years of service. Age 55; service in three full biennial assemblies (6 years) or Rule of 80. For those entering system after 1/1/2011: Vesting at 6 years of service. Age 62; service in three full biennial assemblies (6 years) or the Rule of 90 with a minimum age of 55. House: MSEP 2000 at least 50 with the sum of your age and years of service equaling 80 or more MSEP 2011 at least 55 with the sum of your age and years of service equaling 90 or more | Senate: 26.33% of the salary is paid to the retirement system (Mosers) by the state of Missouri on behalf of the member House: 26.33% of the salary is paid to the retirement system (Mosers) by the state of Missouri on behalf of the member | Senate: For those hired on or before 12/31/2010: monthly pay divided by 24 x years of creditable service, capped at 100% of pay. Benefit is adjusted by the percentage increase in pay for an active legislator. For those entering system after 1/1/2011: no change |
| 30 | Montana | Optional; same as state employees retirement plan. | Members hired before 7/1/11: Age 60 with at least 5 years' service; age 65 regardless of years of service; or 30 years of service regardless of age. After 7/1/11: Vesting at 5 years. Age 65 with 5 years' service, or age 70 and in active service | Legislator: 7.9%. State: 8.67%. For both DB and DC plan. | DB plan: Membership Service Factor (see below) x years of Service Credit x HAC. More than 5 years and less than 10 years of membership service: 1.5%.Less than 30 years of membership service: 1.7857%.30 years or more of membership service: 2%. |
| 31 | Nebraska | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 32 | Nevada | Mandatory, not the same as the state employee retirement plan. Legislators may, within 30 days of being first elected or appointed, elect not to participate; legislators may change their enrollment at the start of a new session. | Must have at least 10 years of service, be age 60, and no longer be a legislator in order to retire without benefit reduction. A legislator who is no longer serving, has at least 10 years of service, but is under the age of 60 can elect to wait to receive his/her benefit until the age of 60 or begin receiving a reduced benefit prior to the age of 60. | Legislator: 15% of session salary. | Number of years (not to exceed 30) x $25 = monthly allowance. |
| 33 | New Hampshire | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 34 | New Jersey | Mandatory for those who are eligible. The defined contribution plan is the same as the state employee plan | Senate: Must be 60 years old for the pension plan, no minimum service requirement for pension plan. | Pension plan: 7.5%. Defined contribution plan: 5.5%. | Pension plan: 3% x FAS x years of service. |
| 35 | New Mexico | Optional. | Age 65 with 5 years of service or at any age with 10 years of legislative service. | $600/year. | 14% of the per diem rate in effect on the first day of the calendar year that the legislator retires x 60 and further multiplied by credited service as a legislator. |
| 36 | New York | No information. | |||
| 37 | North Carolina | Mandatory. | Age 65 with 5 years of service; reduced benefit available at earlier ages. | Legislator: 7%. | Highest annual compensation x 4.02% x years of creditable service. |
| 38 | North Dakota | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 39 | Ohio | Optional; same as the state employee retirement plan. | Varies depending on the retirement plan and eligibility group the member is in. To receive unreduced benefits under the Traditional Plan or Combined Plan – (1) A member in Group A: qualifies at age 65 with at least 5 years of service credit or at any age with 30 years of service credit, (2) A member in Group B: qualifies for age and service retirement at age 66 with at least five years of service credit, with 31 years of service credit (if at least age 52), or at any age with 32 years of service credit, or (3) A member in Group C: qualifies for age and service retirement at age 67 with at least five years of service credit or at age 55 with 32 years of service credit. Member Directed Plan – A member who has reached age 55 and has amounts on deposit in his or her account may receive benefits from the vested amounts in the account either as monthly annuity payments or a partial lump-sum distribution and monthly annuity payments. | Legislator: 10% of earnable salary. A member may elect to contribute amounts beyond the required contribution. State: is 14%. | Under the Traditional Plan, the retirement formula is 2.2% of the member's final average salary per year for each of the first 30 years of service credit, and 2.5% of final average salary for each year of service credit over 30 years or 35 years depending on what group the member is in. Under the Member Directed Plan, the member directs the investment of the contributions in the member's account and benefits are based solely on the success of those investments. Under the Combined Plan, the member directs only the investment of the member's contributions, while OPERS invests the employer's contributions. Benefits are based on a combination of (1) the success of the investments and (2) the member's age, year of service, and final average salary. The retirement benefit formula is 1% of the OPERS member's final annual salary per year for each of the first 30 years of service, and 1.25% of final annual salary for each year, or portion thereof, of service over 30 years or 35 years depending on what group the member is in.p the member is in. |
| 40 | Oklahoma | Mandatory; same as the state employee retirement plan. | Vesting at 8 years. If member joined plan before 11/1/11: Age 62 with 6 years of service.If member joined plan after 11/1/11: Age 65 with 6 years of service.Early retirement with reduced benefits at age 55 or 60 with 10 years of service. | Legislators qualifying for OPERS contribute 3.5% of total compensation. Those starting on or after 11/1/2015 participate in Pathfinder, a defined contribution plan. Mandatory Contribution rate is 4.5%, but members can opt to contribute more | 2% FAS x total years of service. FAS = average of 3 or 5, depending on when member joined plan, highest years of last 10. |
| 41 | Oregon | Optional; same as state employee retirement plan. | OPSRP for general service members is age 65, or age 58 with 30 years of retirement credit. Tier 2 - 60 years or 30 years of retirement credit. Tier 1 - 58 or 30 years of retirement credit. | OPRSP DC component: employees contribute 6% of salary. DB component: non-contributory. 457 plans: members may contribute amounts to limits set by IRS. | Under the Member Directed Plan, the member directs the investment of the contributions in the member's account and benefits are based solely on the success of those investments. |
| 42 | Pennsylvania | Optional; same as state employee retirement plan. | Depends on the plan. | Depends on the plan. | Depends on the plan. |
| 44 | Rhode Island | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 45 | South Carolina | Optional,sam as state employee retirement plan. | Staff and Members must meet the age of 25 for participation. Members are vested at 4 years of service. | Same as state employees. | Same as state employees. |
| 46 | South Dakota | No retirement plan available. | |||
| 47 | Tennessee | Optional. | Age 60 with 8 years of service; or age 50 with 12 years of service. | Senate: 9.5% of gross salary if sworn prior to 9/1/22. | For the contributory plan, the minimum monthly benefit formula is $61.82 times the number of years of credible service. |
| 48 | Texas | Optional; not the same as the state employee retirement plan. | Age 60 with 8 years of service; or age 50 with 12 years of service. | 9.5% | Senate: For those contributing 9.5%, monthly annuities are calculated by multiplying the percentage value of a member's months and years of retirement credit, times the current salary of a state district judge for those contributing 6%, at the member's retirement, the state will contribute 150% of the member's account balance, which includes the member's contributions, the 4% annual interest earning, and any gain-sharing. Although the member contributes 6% on the $600 salary , the account will be credited as though the salary is that of a state district judge." |
| 49 | Utah | Optional; not the same as the state employee retirement plan. | None. | None. | 401k. |
| 50 | Vermont | No legislator retirement plan available. Deferred compensation plan is available. | |||
| 51 | Virginia | Mandatory; same as state employee retirement plan. | Senate: Eligibility for various plans based on membership date. Plan 1: Age 50 with 30 years of service (unreduced); age 55 with 5 years of service; age 50 with 10 years (reduced). Plan 2: When age and service = 90; or normal Social Security retirement age with 5 years of service (unreduced); age 60 with 5 years of service (reduced). Hybrid plan: When age and service = 90; or normal Social Security retirement age with 5 years of service (unreduced); age 60 with 5 years of service (reduced). House: No minimum services requirements. | Senate: Plan 1: members who qualify do not make an employee contribution. Plan 2: 5% of creditable compensation. Hybrid plan: Mandatory and voluntary contributions to defined benefit and defined contribution components. | Senate: Plan 1: 1.7% of average final compensation x years of service (average over highest 36 consecutive months). Plan 2: 1.65% of average final compensation x years of service (average over highest 60 consecutive months). Hybrid plan: 1.65% of average final compensation x years of service (average over highest 60 consecutive months). |
| 53 | Washington | Optional; same as the state employee retirement plan. | Senate: The minimum age for retirement would be 55, but that is an early retirement and has additional requirements. The standard age is 65. Depending on plan, the member becomes vested at 5 or 10 years. House:10 years to be vested. | Senate: For a legislator in PERS 2 it is 6.36%. They are given six options to choose from for their rate in PERS 3 ranging from 5% up to 15%. | Senate: For PERS 2 it's (2%*Total Service Credit Years*AFC). The AFC is the average of their 60 consecutive highest earning months in their career. For PERS 3 it's (1%*Total Service Credit Years*AFC), or otherwise half of PERS 2. That 1% is covered by the employer contribution and then they invest their contributions in PERS 3 |
| 54 | West Virginia | Optional; same as the state employee retirement plan. | Age 55, if years of service + age equal 80. | Before 10/1/87: 7%. After 10/1/87: 5%. | 2% x final average salary x years of service. Final average salary is based on 3 highest years out of last 10 years. |
| 55 | Wisconsin | Mandatory retirement plan available. Same as state employees. | Age 62 for members who began employment before 1/1/17; Age 65 for members who began employment on or after 1/1/17. Age 55 with reduced benefits. 5 years to be vested. | Legislators are required to contribute 6.80% of their gross monthly salary to their retirement account. This amount changes yearly. The employee contribution amount is also matched by the employer. This is a pre tax contribution for the purpose of federal and state income tax. | Final average monthly earnings x creditable service x formula multiplier x age reduction factor (if any) = monthly amount. Final average monthly earnings is calculated by adding the highest earnings for three calendar years and dividing this total by the creditable service earned during these years and then dividing by 12. |
| 56 | Wyoming | Optional. | None. | Deferred compensation plan. Completely up to the legislator on how much they want to contribute. | Information unavailable. |
Source:
National Conference of State Legislatures, 2023.Key:
| DB | — | Defined Benefit. |
| DC | — | Defined Contribution. |
| FAS | — | Final average salary. |
| OPERS | — | Ohio Public Employee’s Retirement System. |
| OPSRP | — | Oregon Public Employee’s Retirement System. |
| PERA | — | Public employee retirement association. |
| PERS | — | Public Employee’s Retirement System. |