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Push to strip pensions of convicted pols
Two
city councilmen are hoping to close legal loopholes that allow public
employees convicted of crimes to collect pensions - even if they're behind
bars. "If a public official is convicted of taking a bribe in the course
of his public duties ... for that person to continue to get paid by taxpayer
dollars is a real affront," City Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn)
said. Yassky and Council Speaker Gifford Miller (D-Manhattan) are expected to
announce a resolution today urging state lawmakers to change the pension
laws. It was a string of scandals involving public officials - including
former Judge Victor Barron and former Bronx Assemblywoman Gloria Davis -
that prompted the push for new rules, Yassky said. Under current law, Barron, who pleaded guilty in August to shaking down
a lawyer trying a case in his courtroom, will collect his $97,000-a-year
pension as he serves a three-to-nine-year prison term. Davis pleaded guilty in January to taking money to steer a $1 million
construction project to a contractor, but she'll still bank a pension Yassky
said was about $47,000 a year. The state Retirement and Social Security Law can only be changed by the
Legislature, whose members are also eligible for pensions. Today's resolution will request that either state legislators rewrite
the law or give New York City the necessary permission to change the rules
governing its pension system. It may prove an uphill fight. Yassky conceded that he and Miller have
yet to find a state lawmaker willing to sponsor the required legislation. Aides to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate
Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer) could not be reached. But some legislative observers remain skeptical of the odds of pension reform success. "This is never going to happen," said one source. Copyright ©
2002 Global Action on Aging
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