TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A Republican state lawmaker who thinks that elected officials should be held to a higher standard is calling for tougher penalties for politicians convicted of crimes.
Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, wants legislative leaders to pass a bill that would automatically strip politicians who are convicted of public corruption of their retirement benefits. The law would apply no matter when the crimes were committed.
``The Legislature must create a disincentive in order to discourage that small minority who view public service as a business opportunity,'' said Beck, a first-term senator.
Republicans reacted strongly to last week's sentencing of former Newark mayor and state Sen. Sharpe James, who received a 27-month term for his role in the cut-rate sale of city land to his former mistress.
Federal prosecutors were seeking up to 20 years for James, but U.S. District Judge William Martini said such a long sentence was not warranted. U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who is among the leading Republicans considering a challenge to Gov. Jon S. Corzine in 2009, said he would seek the permission of the U.S. Justice Department to appeal the sentence.
James, 72, was mayor of Newark from 1986 to 2006, but left office after declining to seek a sixth term. He was also a Democratic state senator from 1999 to January 2008.
As a result of his conviction, James could be stripped of pensions that provide a six-figure annual income. State Treasury spokesman Tom Bell said ``honorable service'' reviews can start now that sentencing has occurred.
``Violating the public trust should be more costly for politicians,'' said Sen. Kevin O'Toole, R-Bergen. ``Any theft is wrong, but stealing from the taxpayers of an economically disadvantaged city like Newark qualified as a particularly heinous act of thievery.''
Under current rules governing retirement from the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), benefits can be reduced or forfeited if the beneficiary is convicted of a crime related to their employment, Bell said.
The PERS board has slashed the benefits of several veteran public servants who tried to collect their pensions after being convicted of public corruption, including former Sen. President John Lynch.
The board stripped Lynch of the entire pension he amassed during 19 years in the Legislature: $19,180 a year. The 68-year-old one-time Middlesex County power broker will be eligible for $267 a month after he gets out of prison, not the $1,865 monthly stipend he would have gotten had he not pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.
A law that went into effect in April 2007 makes it impossible for a government employee to collect any pension benefits after a corruption conviction or guilty plea. That law makes pension forfeitures automatic and prison time mandatory for government employees, including politicians, who accept bribes, launder money or commit related felonies.
Beck's bill would amend that law to include all political corruption convictions, not just crimes committed after the '07 law was passed.
The new bill, S-686, and a companion in the Assembly, have been referred to the judiciary committees in both houses. A similar bill sponsored by Beck last session in the Assembly failed to gain traction.
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