Municipalities, counties, state government and school districts would be allowed to garnish the pension benefits of convicted public officials under legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblyman Daniel M. Van Pelt which was favorably released today by the Assembly State Government Committee.
Current law stipulates that the right of a public employee to a pension, an annuity, retirement allowance or to the return of contributions from the major state-administered pension systems is exempt from garnishment.
“Residents continue to be irate with what they perceive as a system that is too lenient on corrupt politicians who are still entitled to their taxpayer-paid pensions even after disgracing their office,” said Assemblyman Rumpf. “Over the past several years, the state has made progress by enhancing penalties for these criminals, but more remains to be done to ensure that the punishment handed down appropriately fits the crime. Public entities, which are answerable to the taxpayers, should be given the authority to garnish monies from pensions of corrupted politicians as a means of restitution.”
Under the 9th District Lawmakers anti-corruption initiative (A-289), the monies sought from a convicted public official’s pension plan could include the monies involved in the theft or misuse of public funds, as a well as the cost of prosecution. Overall, the legislation applies to convicted public officials whose crime touches their office.
“Corruption continues to create a greater disconnect in our state between government and the people,” remarked Assemblyman Van Pelt. “Our legislation seeks to offset the significant financial losses to taxpayers in terms of the prosecution of these criminals, which is even more critical as revenues continue to become scarcer. Corrupt politicians, in breaking their oath of office and violating the public’s trust should be forced to forfeit their right to this money and be held appropriately accountable for their criminal actions.”
Senator Connors, prime sponsor of the companion legislation (S-1666) currently lodged in the Senate State Government Committee, went on to say, “Many New Jersey residents hold the opinion that government corruption is a tax indirectly imposed on the people that contributes in no small part to the high cost of living in our state. This legislation was introduced more than a decade ago, at the request of Manchester Township officials who sought to garnish funds from former officials, but was prevented from doing so under existing State law. Since that time, the 9th District Delegation has been resolved to see that State law stands on the side of taxpayers, the true victims in these cases, rather than crooked politicians.”
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July 29, 2008
