A Legislative Column by Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,IPulaski)

Week of August 10, 2015

Why is NYS Protecting Convicted

Criminals Public Pensions
Joyce Mitchell, the woman who confessed to assisting two convicted murderers escape
from Clinton Correctional Facility, will still collect a public pension thanks to Albanys failure to
pass a widely supported reform measure. In her retirement years, whether spent in prison or
elsewhere, we can rest assured that shell be able to cash her pension checks.
If you were wondering about the 30 or so lawmakers in the last 10 years that have been
convicted of crimes, or sanctioned or resigned from office, essentially admitting their guilt or
wrongdoing, they too are eligible to receive their pensions. This includes people like former
state senator Pedro Espada, who was convicted of collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars
from a nonprofit healthcare network. It includes former state comptroller Alan Hevesi who
pleaded guilty in a corruption scheme that involved the state pension fundthe very fund he was
charged with overseeing for the public.
When polled in March, 76% of voters said state officials convicted of a felony should
have to forfeit their pension. Yet in June, when it came time to pass meaningful reforms, the
Assembly controlled by NYC Democrats failed to move the legislation. In 2011, the state passed
a law to remove pensions from future officials who are convicted, but the bill did not apply to
members who were in office prior to its enactment.
Current law protects pensions of school teachers or any city official convicted of a felony
related to their official duties. It protects the pensions of public workers charged with sex
crimes, city officials convicted of mismanaged funds, and even a police chief in Schenectady
involved with a cocaine ring in 2008. And of course, it includes people like Joyce Mitchell,
whose actions spurred a three-week manhunt which cost the state an estimated $1 million each
day it continued and unnerved Northern New York residents as convicted murderers roamed.
She is protected by our laws and will benefit from a taxpayer-funded pension. While these
people may lose their jobs and face public shame, they are not required to forfeit their public
pension. The proposed legislation targets public officials who commit felony crimes while
acting in their official capacity. Why should such officials retain their public benefit when they
have betrayed the public trust? We hear a lot about reform in Albany. Here is a simple reform

that most elected officials and a large majority of the public support. It is time for the Assembly
Democrats to stop stonewalling and allow this bill to come to the floor and pass the house.
If you have any questions or comments on this or any other state issue, or if you would
like to be added to my mailing list or receive my newsletter, please contact my office. My office
can be reached by mail at 200 North Second Street, Fulton, New York 13069, by e-mail at
barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us or by calling (315) 598-5185. You can also friend me,
Assemblyman Barclay, on Facebook.
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