(a) Any person who has served as Governor of this state, having been elected to said office or having exercised the powers and authority of said office on the death or resignation of the Governor, and who has attained the age of fifty-five, shall receive an annual pension equal to five thousand dollars for each year or fraction thereof he so served, payable in equal monthly installments for the remainder of his life, provided no such pension shall be payable for any period during which such person serves as, or exercises the powers and authority of, Governor or any other salaried office in the state government. The state shall provide compensation to the surviving spouse of any Governor or former Governor at the rate of one-half the pension to which he was entitled under the provisions of this section or would have been entitled had he survived to the age of fifty-five, payable monthly in equal installments for the remainder of such surviving spouse's life. If any former Governor or surviving spouse of a former Governor is eligible for a pension under any other provision of state law, the amount of such pension shall be deducted from the pension payable under this section.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the increase in the annual pension for Governors and in the compensation to surviving spouses of Governors, effective on January 1, 1979, shall not apply to the Governor in office on July 7, 1977, or to such Governor's spouse.

(c) On July 1, 1998, and on July first of each subsequent year, any person who has served as Governor of this state on and after January 6, 1999, having been elected to said office or having exercised the powers and authority of said office on the death or resignation of the Governor, and who has attained the age of fifty-five, shall be entitled, in addition to the annual pension to which such Governor is entitled under subsection (a) of this section, to an annual cost of living allowance which reflects the increase, if any, in the national consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for the previous twelve-month period, provided such cost of living allowance shall not exceed three per cent. Such cost of living allowance shall be computed on the basis of the combined retirement salary and cost of living allowances, if any, to which such person was entitled as of the June thirtieth immediately preceding.

(1959, P.A. 119, S. 1; February, 1965, P.A. 331, S. 40; 1972, P.A. 281, S. 39; P.A. 77-576, S. 59, 65; P.A. 78-331, S. 2, 58; P.A. 86-375, S. 2, 9; P.A. 98-227, S. 2, 9; P.A. 07-217, S. 2.)

History: 1965 act provided for payment of pension to governor and changed the amount of the pension payable to widows from one-half of salary he received as governor; 1972 act changed age for receiving pension from 65 to 55 and raised base amount for determining pension from $2,500 to $3,750 not to exceed $15,000 a year, effective January 3, 1973; P.A. 77-576 raised base amount for determining pension to $5,000 not to exceed $20,000 a year, changed references to widow to “surviving spouse” and added Subsec. (b) excluding governor at time of passage from provisions of Subsec. (a), effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-331 made technical changes; P.A. 86-375 deleted $20,000 limit on annual pension for governor and deleted provision that surviving spouse of any governor first elected to said office prior to November 8, 1966, shall receive as pension one-half the salary the spouse of such survivor first received as governor; P.A. 98-227 added Subsec. (c) re annual cost of living allowance, effective January 6, 1999 (Revisor's note: In new Subsec. (c) the words “Such cost of a living allowance ...” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Such cost of living allowance ...” to correct a technical error); P.A. 07-217 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective July 12, 2007.