Senate Bill S125A

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S125

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the retirement and social security
law, in relation to clarifying the identity of courts having
jurisdiction relating to a conviction of a felony as grounds for
forfeiture of a public officer's New York state pension benefits

 PURPOSE :

This legislation, the Federal Corruption Loophole Closure Act,
clarifies the identity of courts having jurisdiction relating to a
conviction of a felony as grounds for forfeiture of a public officer's
New York State pension benefits.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section One of the bill amends subdivision 2 of section 157 of the
retirement and social security law, as added by section 1 of part c of
chapter 399 of the laws of 2001 to be amended to state that in the
case of a public official who stands convicted, by plea of nolo
contendere or plea of guilty to, or by conviction after trial, in any
court of competent jurisdiction in this or any other state or any
federal court of competent jurisdiction, of any crime related to
public office, an action may be commenced in supreme court of the
county in which such public official was convicted of such felony
crime, by the district attorney having jurisdiction over such crime,
              

or by the attorney general if the attorney general brought the
criminal charge which resulted in such conviction, for an order to
reduce or revoke the pension of which such public official is
otherwise entitled for service as a public official. Such complaint
shall specify with particularity which category of felony pursuant to
subdivision one of section one hundred fifty-six of this article the
defendant has committed, and all other facts that are alleged to
qualify such crime as a felony crime related to public office subject
to pension reduction or revocation pursuant to this article, and the
amount of pension reduction or revocation requested. Such action shall
be commenced within six months after such conviction.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Recent events have once again highlighted the troubling prevalence of
public corruption in New York State government and have revealed a
loophole in the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011. Under the Act,
any New York State public official who stands convicted, by plea of
nolo contendere or plea of guilty to, or by conviction after trial, in
any court of New York State jurisdiction may lose all or a portion of
his or her New York State and Local Retirement System pension. If a
New York State official is convicted solely on federal corruption
charges, however, this pension ban does not apply. Thus, currently
under the Act, a New York public official convicted solely on federal
corruption charges would continue to receive the benefits of a New
York State public pension for life. This legislation will close this
unacceptable loophole.

In 2011, the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 was enacted and
signed into law. (Chapter 399 of the laws of 2011). Specifically, the
law was designed to address the continuing series of crimes and
corrupt acts perpetrated by a surprising number of New York public
officials.

The law provided for a series of comprehensive reforms to both the
requirements and enforcement of public ethics for New York State
government officials to restore public confidence in our government.
Among the many reforms, the law established a new Joint Commission on
Public Ethics to oversee and investigate compliance with the financial
disclosure and other ethics requirements by executive and legislative
employees and elected officials in both branches of government, and to
oversee the conduct of registered lobbyists; expand and enhance
financial and client disclosures required of executive and legislative
employees and elected officials, including disclosure of outside
clients and customers; establish a new database to aggregate
information concerning all firms and individuals that appear in a
representative capacity before any state agency, public authority,
board, or commission and make such information readily available to
the public; require mandatory ethics training for executive and
legislative employees and elected officials and lobbyists; increase
penalties for violations of certain provisions of the code of ethics
contained in the Public Officers Law § 74; require the reduction or
forfeiture of a public officer's pension under certain circumstances
where he or she has been convicted of a felony related to his office;
expand the definition of "lobbying" to include advocacy related to the
"introduction" of legislation and resolutions; require lobbyists that
lobby on their own behalf and clients of lobbyists that devote
substantial funds to lobbying in New York State to disclose the
sources of such funding; and clarify certain definitions in the
existing gift ban to facilitate better compliance and improve
enforcement. The bill would also amend certain provisions of the
election law to enhance penalties for violations of the campaign
finance laws, and require the State Board of Elections to enforce
requirements that entities and individuals that spend funds on
advertising and other forms of advocacy to influence the outcome of
elections or ballot proposals must disclose such expenditures.

While the Public Integrity Reform Act was hailed as the first major
step in fighting corruption among New York State public officials,
there are additional steps necessary. One such measure is the simple
closure of the federal court conviction loophole in this legislation.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

S.4807-A of 2013-2014 (Hoylman): Died in Civil Service & Pensions

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :  This act shall take effect immediately.