The political leaders will leave public service with a steady check from taxpayers for the rest of their lives. Utah's 71-year-old Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, among others, will fare nicely.

Hatch's estimated annual congressional pension: $110,000. Bennett's is $49,300.

That's in addition to a savings plan similar to a 401(k), and health care benefits that members of Congress receive. Those perks are, of course, on top of Social Security checks that each already is collecting.

"If government employee pension plans can be described as a golden parachute - and many of them are - then Congress' has to be made of platinum," says National Taxpayers Union spokesman Pete Sepp.

The congressional pension is similar to that received by most federal employees, only members and their staffs accrue benefits at higher rates, according to a 2004 report by the Congressional Research Service, an arm of the legislative branch.

Hatch likely will make more than the $110,000 estimate since he plans next year to seek a sixth six-year term. Bennett was just elected to a third term and won't have to run again, if he chooses to, until 2010.

The senators, who acknowledged they already are accepting monthly Social Security checks, each has plans to reform the program that serves as the major source of income for most elderly Americans. Bennett's plan seeks to slow the increase in payments for all but the poorest of recipients, while Hatch's proposal would create incentives for retirement savings through government-matched savings accounts. Bush has given Bennett the go-ahead to pursue his plan, even though it doesn't include the much-touted proposal to create private savings accounts.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen of Utah gets an estimated $89,000 a year from his 22 years in Congress. Former Sen. Jake Garn, who was elected to three terms and also served in the Navy, earns an estimated $74,500 a year for his federal pension with the cost-of-living raises applied since 1994.

Among Utah's current House members, Republican Rep. Chris Cannon would make about $17,500 if he retires in 2007 and applies to get his checks before age 62. If the currently 55-year-old waits until 62, Cannon would get an estimated $24,800 a year.

Rep. Jim Matheson, who is 45 years old and Utah's only Democrat in Congress, would probably get $14,880 a year if he retired in 2007 and waits until age 62 to collect. Two-term Rep. Rob Bishop, 53, is not yet vested in the pension plan, but will qualify next year.

All the figures are calculations based on formulas because the actual amounts are considered private information. So while taxpayers pay the bill, they are not permitted to know what it is.

Hatch acknowledges that members of Congress do receive "decent pensions," but notes that they are in line with what other federal employees receive. And he says the pension he will receive does not mean he is out of touch with people back home.

"I make it a point to stay in close contact with what my constituents are thinking," Hatch said in a statement. "I am constantly meeting with Utahns, both throughout Utah and in D.C., so I am well aware of the concerns people have from all walks of life on this and a variety of issues."

Still, Hatch says the pension system needs to be constantly reviewed and if it needs improvement, Congress should act.

Bennett said his pension is "computed in the same way as all other government employees' " and is "considerably lower" than what he would have received if he were in the private sector. He says there's no need to change the pension system since it's now in line with other government retirement programs.

And the senator says he is in touch with the worries of average workers and that pensions don't play into policy decisions like Social Security.

"I don't know any member of the Senate or House who, in responding to those worries regardless of the issue, stops to think about his or her own pension one way or the other," Bennett said through his spokeswoman, Mary Jane Collipriest.

Cannon said through his spokesman, Charles Isom, that Congress rightly decided to change the pension plan in 1984 so that "benefits should be no better than that available to all federal workers."

Isom added that Cannon and Congress are just trying to make sure Social Security "is there for all generations."

"Whatever side of the Social Security debate members come down on has little to do with the pensions they have waiting for them and more to do with ideological beliefs, which Congressman Cannon will share with anyone who asks," Isom said.

Matheson says the entire debate over pensions and Social Security should bring attention to the need for Congress to have policies to encourage people to save more for their golden years.

"There's no question that we need to do better to make sure that people have adequate retirement in this country," Matheson said.

Utah's newest representative, Bishop, plans to join the congressional pension system when he qualifies next year. He notes he still has two children at home and three in college. The former high school teacher lives now on his congressional salary and a small education retirement, and getting a retirement from Congress makes sense, says his spokesman, Scott Parker.

"Being a congressman is now his job," Parker said, "and it makes sense that eventually there would be some sort of retirement for those who make their living making laws."

Hansen did not return calls for comment.

At least one congressman says the system is in need of a rewrite.

Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., has been in the House for 21 years and by all estimates, could earn more than $2 million over his lifetime in the pension program.

That is if he was in it. Coble, a die-hard conservative, may have more money than the average middle-class person, according to financial disclosures, but he isn't by most accounts rich. But Coble says the system is broken and it wouldn't be right to take advantage.

He has introduced legislation twice to reform the pension program, and twice it died. He calls congressional pensions "a sweetheart deal" and a "taxpayer rip-off."

Former presidents - one- and two-termers alike - get an annual pension equal to that of the current salary for a Cabinet secretary. This year, that's $180,100.

The latest report from the Congressional Research Service pegs the average annual pension for retired members at $55,788 a year.

That's with an average contribution by the members of $60,186 over the course of their tenure.

As far as their congressional pensions go, says Sepp, the taxpayer union's spokesman, "they're doing better than many executives making in the $150,000 to $200,000 range."

He doesn't expect the program to change anytime soon, considering that Congress members control it.

tburr@sltrib.com