You asked (1) if the governor would be eligible for pension and other retirement benefits if he resigns and (2) if the consequences of impeachment extend beyond ineligibility for elective office.

The Office of Legislative Research is not authorized to give legal opinions and this report should in no way be construed as one.

THE GOVERNOR’S STATE PENSION

A former governor receives a state pension equal to $ 5,000 for each year, or fraction thereof, the individual served as governor (CGS § 3-2a). The pension begins in monthly installments after the individual reaches age 55 and is no longer serving in office or in any other salaried state office.

Since Governor John Rowland has served nine and a half years, he is eligible for a $ 50,000 annual pension upon reaching age 55. If the governor completes his current term, for a total of 12 years in office, he would be eligible for a $ 60,000 pension. By law, the governor’s pension depends only on the number of years served and does not change depending upon compensation received while in office. (Since January 2003 the Governor’s annual salary is $ 150,000; before that it was $ 78,000. )

Governors serving from 1999 forward will receive an annual cost of living pension increase equivalent to the increase, if any, in the national consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for the previous 12-month period, as long as the increase does not exceed 3%.

Governor Rowland also served four years as a state representative from 1981 to 1984. That four-year service was not enough to vest in the state employee retirement system, which required 10 years of service at the time (it now requires five years of service for vesting).

HEALTH INSURANCE

State law requires the Office of the Comptroller to provide group health insurance coverage to all state employees and “anyone receiving benefits from any state-sponsored retirement system,” among others (CGS § 5-259(a)). Therefore, any former governor receiving retirement benefits is also entitled to state employee health insurance coverage.

CONSEQUENCES OF IMPEACHMENT

The governor, and all other executive and judicial officers, may be impeached under the state Constitution. The judgment may not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold “any office of honor, trust or profit under the state. ” Impeachment does not immunize the governor from civil or criminal liability (Conn. Const. Art. 9, § 3).

The State Employee Retirement Commission does not penalize, nor does it have the authority to penalize, any former employee or elected officer who resigns, is terminated from his or her position, or is impeached, respectively. Retirement calculations are based solely on factors such as the number of years served; eligible retirement age; and in the case of employees, salary earned.

JM: ts