Connecticut state government paid 5.3 percent more money to retired state employees in 2014, according to public data compiled by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy.
The state paid $1.59 billion in pension payments to 46,766 retirees last calendar year, up from $1.51 billion to 45,874 retirees in 2013, the data published Monday show.
The average annual pension last year was $33,909, up from $30,617.
For the sixth consecutive year, the highest pension went to John Veiga, a retired UConn business and management professor. He received $290,355 last year.
