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Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 40
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to finance
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Requires all plea agreements offered to public officers and former public officers to include pension forfeiture
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Kieran Michael Lalor
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S6432
Title of bill
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to requiring plea agreements offered to public officers to include pension forfeiture
Purpose
Requires all plea agreements offered to public officers and former public officers to include pension forfeiture.
Summary of provisions
The public officers law is amended by adding a new section 74-b. No plea agreement for any crime related to abuse of his or her office shall be accepted by a court of competent jurisdiction where the defendant is a public officer or former public officer without the commencement of an action to forfeit all rights and benefits as a member or a retired member of the appropriate retirement system, including the pension of the public officer or former public officer in supreme court.
Justification
The bill would apply retroactively to current and former public officers, giving the state a tool to take away pensions from any convicted of a crime related to abuse of office without the need for a constitutional amendment.
New York's constitution protects the pensions of public officers from. being "diminished or impaired." That means New York must pass a constitutional amendment to take away pensions from politicians convicted of public corruption if they entered the pension system before the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011.
But, this bill would allow much needed reform without a constitutional amendment because the public officer would be voluntarily forfeiting his or her pension in order to accept a plea bargain offer. The constitutional requirements are satisfied because the state would not be unilaterally diminishing retirement benefits. There is no constitutional right to a plea bargain and New York has placed other limits on the plea bargain process.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.