PERA is actually a social security substitute.  It is not a pension that is paid on top of SS hence it is no more an entitlement than SS is.  You also seem to think that PERA is funded by tax payers when in fact, employers and employees pay into it rather than paying into social security. If a retiree has paid into SS for part of their career and then PERA for another part of their career, they will receive payment from both.   But that total will not exceed what they would receive if they had only contributed to one or the other.