{"id":244082,"date":"2026-01-14T11:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/244082\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T11:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:37:23","slug":"massachusetts-pensions-top-6-6b-as-gov-demands-lamar-cooks-retirement-refund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/244082\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts pensions top $6.6B as gov demands LaMar Cook’s retirement refund"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Maura Healey\u2019s office is going after alleged cocaine trafficker LaMar Cook\u2019s<\/a> pension refund before he receives a dime, the Herald has learned.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office sent a demand letter to the Retirement Board on Monday urging the agency withhold \u201cany pension refund to Mr. Cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Herald was provided the letter after asking if Cook, fired from his job as Healey\u2019s aide in western Massachusetts after his arrest, could still collect a pension. He can\u2019t, the board said, but he is due a refund.<\/p>\n

The exact amount of that refund is being withheld \u201cbecause there is an ongoing legal matter,\u201d the board stated.<\/p>\n

Cook paid into the retirement system while working as an aide to Healey for the past three years and as a UMass Hotel manager since 2016, state Comptroller records show.<\/p>\n

He earned $130,227 in gross pay last year \u2014 including a $31,438.56 vacation and sick time buyback, as first reported by the Herald.<\/p>\n

Last week, Healey instructed Attorney General Andrea Campbell to file suit to claw back Cook\u2019s buyback bonus<\/a>. The pension pay has now been added to that legal demand.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office said Cook\u2019s buyout was paid in \u201cerror\u201d and is pursuing that matter in Suffolk Superior Court.<\/p>\n

Cook was arrested in October after prosecutors said he had a shipment of cocaine<\/a> delivered to a state office building where he worked. He\u2019s pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including firearms charges stemming from a search warrant of Cook\u2019s home and is being held in jail.<\/p>\n

The pension question arises as the payouts to state retirees, both educators and other public employees, have jumped almost 18% since the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The state Comptroller reports $6.6 billion is now being paid to retirees annually<\/a>. Among that tally are the five top recipients, who were paid $300,000-plus in 2025, records show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this says is it\u2019s pretty great for a few but not everybody,\u201d said national pension watchdog Anthony Randazzo.<\/p>\n

In his organization\u2019s annual report, he co-authors a warning that public pension plans are still in a \u201cfragile financial condition.\u201d That fact places Massachusetts 37th with $33.3 billion in unfunded liability, according to the Equable Institute<\/a>, where Randazzo is the executive director.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all up to taxpayers. If you\u2019re getting good service, the pensions are worth it. If not, it\u2019s not worth it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He cautioned that Massachusetts is placing a burden on younger taxpayers to keep funding the pension system until it is paid off.<\/p>\n

This fall, the state even floated a proposal<\/a> to reduce its full-time workforce by offering buyouts of $10,000 for resignations and $20,000 for retirement, according to an email sent out to members. That offer has died down, but it didn\u2019t stop the governor\u2019s office from responding to the storm clouds ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Healey has taken action to protect our budget in light of President Trump\u2019s billions of dollars in cuts to Massachusetts, including implementing hiring controls,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cWhile President Trump continues to hurt our economy, Governor Healey is considering additional steps to protect taxpayer dollars while continuing the high level of service that the people of Massachusetts deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randazzo, who stressed he remains politically neutral, said future budgets will be strained by pension costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBudget pressures are mounting across the 50 states,\u201d his annual update warns, adding \u201ctax revenue growth has slowed as healthcare and education costs\u201d grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs fiscal constraints tighten,\u201d the report adds, \u201cthe political will to maintain or increase these contributions will be tested \u2014 particularly in states where pension costs compete directly with priorities like education and healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toss in recession risks and a volatile market, and pension payments loom ever larger.<\/p>\n

Go to bostonherald.com for a complete list of pension payouts and more databases in the 19th straight year of the rolling \u201cYour Tax Dollars at Work\u201d<\/a> report. Send all tips to joed@bostonherald.com.<\/p>\n

\"LaMarLaMar Cook, 45, appeared before Judge Sarah Hamilton at Hampden Superior Court on Thursday morning. Cook has been charged with drug trafficking. (Douglas Hook \/ Pool, The Republican)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Maura Healey\u2019s office is going after alleged cocaine trafficker LaMar Cook\u2019s pension refund before he receives a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,61,60,123190,123191,1558,174,175],"class_list":{"0":"post-244082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-lamar-cook","13":"tag-massachusetts-pensions","14":"tag-pensions","15":"tag-personal-finance","16":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}