Question: Do elected officials in Hawaii (mayor, City Council, governor, state House and Senate) get government pensions and medical coverage even for a short time of office? … What about people they appoint to their Cabinet and other appointed positions? … What about just regular government employees? …

Answer: Elected officials may qualify for full state or county retirement benefits after five to 10 years of service, depending on their age and when they were elected. Appointees also are eligible, but the service and age requirements are slightly different.

Your query mentioned distinct subsets of government employees, so we turned them into separate questions before contacting Jodi Leong, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Ige, who facilitated the following responses from Hawaii’s Employees’ Retirement System. The ERS administers benefits in three retirement plans: contributory, hybrid and noncontributory. The plan that employees are in depends on their occupation and when they were hired.

Back to your questions; we’ll start with general state and county employees:

Q: How long does a regular government worker have to work to receive the maximum retirement benefits? … By regular government worker, I mean someone who is hired and stays in the job regardless of who is mayor or governor.

A: For general employees (non-elected, non-judge, non-police/fire) of the state or the city and counties who began ERS membership on or before June 30, 2012, these are the service requirements to be eligible for full retirement benefits:

>> Contributory members: five years at age 55 or 25 years at any age.

>> Hybrid members: five years at age 62 or 30 years at age 55.

>> Noncontributory members: 10 years at age 62 or 30 years at age 55.

For general employees who started membership after that date, these are the service requirements to be eligible for full retirement benefits:

>> Contributory members: 10 years at age 60 or 25 years at age 55.

>> Hybrid members: 10 years at age 65 or 30 years at age 60.

Q: Do elected officials in Hawaii (state and county) receive government pensions and medical coverage? If yes, how long do they have to serve (be elected) to receive these benefits? … I am talking about the mayor, City Council members, governor and legislators (state Senate and House).

A: Yes. Elected officials (including all of the above-mentioned offices and jurisdictions) who began ERS membership on or before June 30, 2012, qualify for full retirement benefits after five years of service at age 55, or 10 years of service at any age. Those who became ERS members after that date are eligible for full retirement benefits after 10 years of service at any age.

Medical coverage eligibility is administered by the Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund and is based on EUTF’s service and membership criteria. For more information about medical eligibility, see eutf.hawaii.gov.

Q: Lastly, what about political appointees? Do the people who the governor and mayor appoint to their administrations qualify for retirement benefits? …

A: Yes, if they hold the job long enough. Political appointees who are required to be members of the ERS are considered general employees and must fulfill the same service and age requirements, based on their membership plan and date of appointment. (See the answer above about general employees for details.)

Details are available on the ERS website, ers.ehawaii.gov. To find benefit information by plan and employee categories (including elected and legislative officers), click on “members” in the horizontal toolbar, then choose “active/new hire” from the pull-down menu.

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