New York taxpayers have spent millions of dollars over the past dozen or so years on pensions for corrupt politicians no longer in office. A local member of the state delegation is now trying to change the law.
Taxpayers spend nearly $600,000 a year on corrupt Albany politicians, according to Senator Tim Kennedy.
"Since 1999, 20 Albany politicians have resigned or have been removed from office after run-ins with the law or ethical failures...and in total, the state has paid out $4.3 million in pension costs to the politicians who've left office in disgrace," Kennedy says.
The bottom line, Kennedy says, is crooked lawmakers shouldn't be able to pay their debt to society behind bars while collecting pensions from the taxpayers they ripped off. The South Buffalo Democrat is co-sponsoring legislation that would stop the practice.
"It's absolutely ludicrous. We want new measures that would revoke state pensions for any elected official, current or former, at the state or local level, that violates the duties of the office and commits acts of public corruption or violent crime. Those who violate the public trust don't deserve a pension regardless of when they were elected," Kennedy added.
Kennedy says tax dollars paid to disgraced state officials could be better spent on schools, roads, and creating jobs in New York.