House Advances Petri’s Public Pension Forfeiture Legislation
HARRISBURG – The House today overwhelmingly approved legislation sponsored by House Ethics Committee Chairman Scott Petri (R-Bucks) that would strengthen Pennsylvania laws governing public corruption.
House Bill 17 would hold state, county or municipal government officials and public employees, including school district employees, accountable for crimes related to their official duties by requiring them to forfeit their government pension and pay appropriate restitution when they plead guilty or no contest to any crime related to their official government position or any felony offense.
“Under the existing Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act, employees or officials who are charged with a forfeiture crime have the ability to plead to a ‘non-forfeiture’ offense - to avoid losing their pensions. My bill would close this loophole,” Petri said.
“Government officials and employees would not be able to avoid losing their taxpayer-paid pension by pleading guilty to a lesser offense, as we have seen in some high-profile cases. My legislation would take away this discretion, requiring offenders to face the real penalties associated with their crimes. This would also include reimbursing the victims of their crimes – often times the taxpayer.
“Currently 11 states have legislation that requires forfeiture for any conviction involving public office for any felony. Nine others revoke pensions for any crime involving their office. Pennsylvania’s statue determines pension forfeiture by the type of crime committed. My bill would expand the list of offenses, making our public corruption laws the toughest in the nation,” said Petri.
House Bill 17 passed the House by a vote of 188-2. The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Representative Scott Petri
178th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Donna Pinkham
717.260.6452
dpinkham@pahousegop.com
RepPetri.com