HARRISBURG -- Mike Veon lost his bid for re-election to the state House in November, but his 22 years in the General Assembly have given him a nice financial cushion to fall back on.

According to figures released yesterday by the State Employees Retirement System, Mr. Veon, a Beaver Falls Democrat, will get a one-time, lump sum payment of $126,614, plus a monthly pension of $4,195, or $50,340 a year.

The retirement system released the figures in response to a Pennsylvania Right to Know Act request by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Mr. Veon, 49, was the second-ranking Democrat in the House until November. He was first elected in 1984.

Mr. Veon was the only legislator who didn't vote to repeal the infamous July 2005 pay raise, which would have raised his salary from about $95,000 to $123,000. He said he'd worked hard as a legislator and wasn't afraid to say he deserved the raise. But Beaver County voters didn't agree, ousting him in favor of Republican Jim Marshall.

Several other former legislative leaders, including ex-Sen. Robert Jubelirer, are also getting handsome pension payouts from the state.

Mr. Jubelirer, an Altoona Republican who had been in the Senate for 32 years, lost his re-election bid in a May 2006 primary. He is getting a lump sum payment of $191,804 and a pension of $90,934 a year.

Lump-sum payments are drawn from the amounts withheld from lawmakers' paychecks, plus 4 percent interest. Selecting the lump-sum payment option lowers annual pension payouts.

Mr. Jubelirer also was a leader in pushing for the pay raise, but later voted to repeal it in the face of voter outrage.

Mr. Veon has decided to set up a lobbying business in Harrisburg, to take advantage of the legislative skills and contacts he made during his 22 years in the House.

The first client for Mike Veon & Associates is U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. of Greenwich, Conn., which is opposed to Gov. Ed Rendell's effort to extend the sales tax to smokeless tobacco and cigars. The firm makes Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco.

Mr. Veon, a cigar smoker, said recently that as a legislator, he'd always been opposed to applying the sales tax to such tobacco products.

As House Democratic whip, Mr. Veon was a strong ally of Mr. Rendell, but they differ on this issue. Mr. Rendell wants to increase the state's cigarette tax, and extend the sales tax to smokeless tobacco and cigars, as a way to help fund his proposal to extend health insurance to uninsured people.

Mr. Veon has maintained a low profile since losing re-election, appearing to talk to reporters only one time, at a Feb. 12 luncheon in Harrisburg to raise money to pay off campaign debts.

He said it's unlikely he'll run again for public office, but does want to help a former colleague, Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, in his current run for mayor of that city.