Senate Bill S6769

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6769

 TITLE OF BILL :  CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to section 7 of article 5 of the constitution,
in relation to removal of pension and retirement benefits from persons
convicted of certain felonies

 PURPOSE : To remove certain pension and retirement benefits from
persons convicted of certain felonies.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of this bill amends section 7 of article 5 of the
Constitution, by adding language specifying that any elected official
who is convicted of a felony offense against public administration
that occurred during his or her time in office shall forfeit rights to
his or her benefits subsequent to the criminal conduct for which such
elected official was convicted.

Section 2 of this bill states that the amendment be referred to the
first regular legislative session convening after the next succeeding
general election of members of the assemble, and, in conformity, with
section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be published for 3 month
previous to the time of such election.

 JUSTIFICATION :  Currently, a former elected official sitting in
              

prison for a felony act committed while he or she was in office can
still apply for and receive his or her pension checks. In recent
cases, the pension payouts to former State Assembly and Senate members
convicted of a felony could cost New York State taxpayers millions of
dollars. This is a waste of taxpayer money and does little to
disincentivize those looking to use their political office for
personal gain.

This bill would propose a constitutional amendment specifying that any
elected official convicted of a felony offense against public
administration that occurred during his or her time in office shall
forfeit rights to his or her benefits subsequent to the time at which
the criminal conduct for which the elected official was convicted
occurred.

More than half the states across the country have passed
pension-forfeiture related bills for public officials and Gov. Andrew
Cuomo recently expressed his support for a pension-forfeiture
constitutional amendment in his 2016 State of the State Address.
Further, a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in March 2015 found
that 76 percent of state voters polled said that elected officials
should lose their retirement benefits if convicted of a felony.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :  New Bill. Similar Legislation in 2015: 5.4611
(Budget) - passed Senate / A.6722 (Buchwald) - referred to Assembly
Judiciary Committee.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :  Savings to the State to the extent it enables
the state pension fund to not have to make certain payments.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :  Resolved (if the Assembly concur), that the
amendment shall be referred to the first regular legislative session
convening after the next succeeding general election of members of the
assemble, and, in conformity, with section 1 of article 19 of the
constitution, be published for 3 month previous to the time of such
election.