Davis’ Pension: About $105,000

When Gray Davis leaves the governorship this morning, he will have at least one thing to look forward to: a state pension of about $105,000 a year.

Davis can expect to annually receive “somewhere around 60% of his final salary” of $175,000, said Darin Hall, a spokesman for the California Public Employees Retirement System.

The exact amount depends on when Davis officially retires and how he wants his retirement benefits structured. Hall said he understands that the ousted governor, whose birthday falls just after Christmas, will formally retire next month.

Davis has spent more than a quarter-century in state government, beginning as Gov. Jerry Brown’s chief of staff from 1975 to 1981. After that, he was elected to the state Assembly in 1982 and represented a liberal district on the Westside of Los Angeles for four years.

California voters sent Davis back to Sacramento for eight years as state controller, four years as lieutenant governor, and four years and 10 1/2 months as governor. Although he was reelected to the state’s top political post only a year ago, Davis’ second term was cut short when he lost last month’s historic recall election.

The pension benefits Davis will receive are based on his age, years of service and final salary.

As a gesture of fiscal conservatism, Davis chose to be paid $10,000 a year less than his full salary.

But Hall said the state retirement system will use the full amount of $175,000 a year to calculate his pension. That decision should increase Davis’ pension benefits by about $6,000 a year.

The governor and his wife, Sharon, will receive health and dental insurance, but no vision coverage.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Inauguration broadcasts

Several Southern California television stations will air special programs and provide live coverage of today’s inauguration of Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place on the Capitol steps in Sacramento.

KCBS-TV Channel 2, KNBC-TV Channel 4, KABC-TV Channel 7 and KCAL-TV Channel 9 will begin their coverage at 10 a.m. and carry the inauguration live at 11 a.m.

Los Angeles Times