Your Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis is turning down a taxpayer funded pension and federal health insurance benefits. He's also co-sponsoring a bill in Congress that would end pensions for politicians altogether.
"I don't think politicians, generally, should be getting pensions," DeSantis tells WOKV. "Particularly members of Congress who a lot of these guys make a lot of money when they leave Congress. So I thought it was inappropriate just generally."
DeSantis says there's a perception that people running for Congress want to enjoy the perks of the office, but that's not what he did it for.
"I was running to create change - to try to advance conservative principles," he says.
He also says it creates bad incentives by fostering “careerism.”
“If you know you’re gonna have a pension – you know some of these guys stay thirty forty years, and they have a soft landing with a taxpayer funded pension. And I don’t think that’s the way we should set it up.”
DeSantis says until he can change it by law, he’s going to lead by example. The bill he’s sponsoring will phase out the current system, he says.
“Very few people in the private sector get pensions anymore…I just think Congress should see that and understand that the pensions are not something that most Americans enjoy anymore.”
“And it really isn’t a necessary expense for the taxpayer. We’re talking about pruning back some of the unnecessary spending. If you have a member of Congress who can make five-hundred thousand or a million dollars when they get out of office, why would you now need to do this?”
DeSantis believes we’ll see a younger generation of people embrace the bill with bi-partisan support.
And as for his health benefits, he says he’s sticking with the insurance plan he and his wife already have even though it’s more costly and the benefits aren’t as generous as the taxpayer finance plan.
“There’s a lot of folks out there who don’t appreciate how Congress has gotten involved in healthcare recently, and they feel that they’ve been disadvantaged. They feel they will be disadvantaged as more of these regulations go into effect. But yet they look at members of Congress and see them enjoying benefits that are better than what they have. “
DeSantis says he didn’t want to be in a situation where he was taking advantage.
On Tuesday, DeSantis is hosting his first town hall meeting, at the Putnam County Agricultural Center. It's scheduled for 6:30pm-7:30pm at 111 Yelvington Road, East Palatka.
