By Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald

Fed-up critics of the MBTA’s lucrative and secretive pension program are demanding that Beacon Hill pols jump off the payroll-perk wagon and slash the authority’s cash loopholes.

“Somebody has to do something, and I blame our legislators,” said Barbara Anderson, founder of Citizens for Limited Taxation.

A 5 percent slice of the state sales tax goes to propping up the T, but Anderson said last night the bailout must finally included reforms.

Her anger was stoked by a Herald payroll analysis that shows Patrick Bulger, the 43-year-old son of former state Senate President William M. Bulger, just retired from the T with full benefits only to land a new job with the state.

The move essentially gives him an instant raise.

T employees are allowed to retire after only 23 years of service, with full health insurance, and work elsewhere - including for the state - with no restrictions. Most state employees can’t retire until they are 65 and are limited to where they can work afterwards.

“It appears to be the richest retirement program in America,” said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation. “There’s no way we can afford the pension and health care benefits.”

Bulger, 43, retired from the T last year as a $72,675-a-year construction inspector with a full pension and was hired as a $40,447-a-year court services coordinator overseeing those sentenced to community service, payroll records show.

He’s now earning an estimated $41,424 a year from his MBTA pension giving him an annual income of about $82,000, according to a Herald payroll analysis.

Bulger could not be reached for a comment.

T union employees earn 57 percent of their best three years of pay upon retirement. Authority managers do a bit better qualifying for 65 percent of their best three years when they retire.

Go to the “your tax dollars at work” report on bostonherald.com for a list of state payrolls and pensions.

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