"It's the political environment," said Dennis, a 16-year first-grade teacher and former police officer. "I don't even know that I'm considered a valuable person anymore."
The Employees Retirement System of Texas expects about 5,400 retirements in the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, up from 3,500 in a typical year, said Mary Jane Wardlow, a spokeswoman.
Insurance Premiums
Texas legislators may require employees to pay for 10% of their health-insurance premiums to help narrow the state's budget deficit, Ann Fuelberg, executive director of the retirement system, said at an April 5 legislative hearing.
In Florida, retirees entering the pension system rose to 14,306 in the first seven months of fiscal 2011 from 11,639 in all of fiscal 2010, Kris Purcell, a spokesman for the state's Department of Management Services, said in an e-mail.
Governor Rick Scott, facing a $3.8 billion deficit, wants workers to pay 5% of their salaries to their pensions and to lower the portion of state-paid health-insurance premiums.
The number of New York public employees who retired in 2010 grew 65% to 12,281, after a program that ended Dec. 31 allowed some to leave with full benefits after 25 years rather than 30, said Eric Sumberg, a spokesman for Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma also offered early-retirement enticements in 2010, according to a Nov. 23 report of the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.
Fiscal Health
Most such incentives are unlikely to have a "significant impact" on pension systems' fiscal health because costs tend to be spread over time, Bill Hallmark, chairman of the Washington- based American Academy of Actuaries public plans subcommittee, said in a telephone interview from Portland, Oregon.