Pension Spiking Scandal
In 2008, Ronen was hired by her "friend," as she called him, Governor Rod Blagojevich for a position in Illinois state government which she held for approximately sixty days. Her short stint as an aide to the governor spiked her annual state pension by some $38,000 to over $100,000. This $38,000 per year increase, based solely on her short employment with the governor who was later indicted, would result in an additional $798,000 over her lifetime based on the 21 year life expectancy for a 63 year old woman predicted by Social Security Administration actuarial tables. Adjusting for the statutorily mandated cost of living increases (3% annually), the total amount of additional pension benefits Ronen extracted for just six weeks of work with the embattled former Governmor Rod Blagojevich exceeds $1 million. This amount, like the rest of her pension, is free of state income tax. Media around the state editorialized against this manipulation noting that the Obama campaign denied she had worked for it and that Illinois has one of the largest underfunded public pension obligations in the nation.
Read more about this topic: Carol Ronen
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