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Lawmakers, retirees push to raise decades-old veterans pension bonus
Summary
A proposal to raise the Commonwealth's veterans pension bonus—unchanged since the 1950s—was presented to the Joint Committee on Public Service with backing from Mass Retirees and an actuarial review characterizing costs as minimal.
Representative Dennis Gallagher and retirement advocates asked the Joint Committee on Public Service to increase a decades-old veterans bonus paid to public-employee retirees.
The current benefit, established in the mid-1950s, adds $15 per month to a qualifying retiree’s pension up to $300 a year. Gallagher said his bill would increase the amount to $50 per year of service, capped at $1,000 annually for a 20-year retiree.
“This veterans bonus…gives public service employees who are veterans $15 a month added to their pension up to $300 a year,” Representative Dennis Gallagher told the committee. He described the bill as a long-standing proposal that the committee has favorably reported in prior sessions.
Sean Duhamel, chief executive officer of Mass Retirees Association, said the bonus was “not indexed to inflation” and noted the benefit has been unchanged for roughly 69 years. He told the committee that an analysis by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC) found the change would create only a “de minimis or negligible” impact on the system’s funding schedule and would not require a separate appropriation by the Commonwealth or municipalities.
Duhamel said the proposal would raise the bonus to $50 per year of credible service, capped at $1,000 for those with at least 20 years of service. He argued the increase is a modest way to recognize service while keeping actuarial costs small.
No committee vote was taken. Witnesses requested the committee report the bill favorably so the change can be considered further in the legislative process.
