Taxpayers’ Union Chops Senator’s Potential Pension

A conservative taxpayers’ group has cut in half its estimate of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s pension to almost $900,000 after his campaign disputed its nearly 2-year-old estimate.

The Idaho Republican’s re-election campaign objected to the National Taxpayers’ Union’s $1.89 million estimate.

The questions came in the wake of Democratic challenger Walt Minnick’s television ad charging Craig with voting to raise his salary to $133,000 a year and pension to almost $2 million five years ago.

National Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Pete Sepp said it assumed Craig is enrolled in the Civil Service Retirement System instead of the Federal Employee Retirement System when it released its original estimate in 1994.

That is because the Civil Service Retirement System is more generous and which retirement program congressmen are enrolled in is not public record, he said.

Seven years ago, the union asked lawmakers what retirement plan they are enrolled in and assumed they were part of the Civil Service Retirement System if they did not respond, he said.

Craig exercised his option to shift into the federal employee system in 1987.

This week, Sepp estimated Craig’s pension is worth $892,509, assuming Craig is enrolled in the federal employee system.

Craig’s campaign spokesman, Mike Tracy, estimated Craig’s pension is worth $850,000.

“Based on the numbers we have from the people who make out the paychecks, the Minnick numbers aren’t even close,” he said. “The bottom line is the Minnick camp didn’t do their research again. They need to be asked whether they are going to continue to run that spot.”