Former Rick Perry Aide Got $162,500 Bonus

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Ann Bishop was already the highest-paid executive officer in state government as director of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, according to a state auditor’s report.

But shortly before Gov. Rick Perry announced she would become his chief of staff late last year — a post she held only briefly before returning to ERS — agency records indicate she received something of a parting gift: a $162,500 bonus.

Now two legislators examining high executive salaries in state government are raising questions about the timing and size of the payments.

“This is something you see in the private sector, not state government,” state Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, the co-chairwoman of the House Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations, told The Texas Tribune. Alvarado said such payments should come to an end.

Another member of the committee, Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, also criticized the payment.
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http://www.texastribune.org/2013/03/07/former-rick-perry-aide-got-162500-bonus/

[Ilsa]

1. 100 teachers would have enjoyed

$1600 bonuses. Three or four teachers could have been hired in struggling schools. But no, state money was given to Rick Perry's pets.

[TexasTowelie]

2. It certainly reinforces the perception of cronyism in the Perry administration.

What did Bishop do that would deserve such a hefty bonus? That amount could have provided merit raises for 90-100 of the employees at ERS that actually do the work.