Senator Jacobs Votes For Pension Forfeiture Bill

(Albany, NY) – New York State Senator Chris Jacobs (SD-60) today voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that would strip public officials who have been convicted of a felony of their taxpayer funded state pension.  Jacobs is co-sponsor of Senate bill S418.

“A public official who is convicted of a felony does not deserve to collect a pension funded by the very taxpayers they have betrayed,” said New York State Senator Chris Jacobs.  “A public officer who joined the state retirement system prior to November of 2011 can accept a bribe, steal public funds, and engage in many other forms of corruption and collect on their pension if convicted of that crime.  That is just plain wrong.”

As part of the Public Integrity Reform Act, signed into law in 2011, public officials who joined the state retirement system on or after November 11, 2011 are subject to forfeiture of their pension if they commit certain felonies related to their public office.  There is no such provision for public officials who entered the state retirement system prior to November 11, 2011.

Immediately after being sworn-in as a New York State Senator, Jacobs introduced a term limits bill limiting the length a member of the New York State Assembly or Senate, Governor, Comptroller and Attorney General could be in office no more than 12 years.  At that time, Jacobs pointed out that a common element of the more than 20 Albany politicians convicted of crimes over the last two decades is they were in office a very long time.  Furthermore, former Senate Leader Dean Skelos and former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver – both recently convicted of corruption – were in office a combined total of 70 years and have both kept their taxpayer funded pensions.

“We need more citizen legislators instead of career politicians.  We need to send our representatives to Albany to make a difference and then come home again and live under the laws they passed,” said Jacobs.