Rep. Dwight Kay: No pensions for convicted public officials

State Rep. Dwight Kay

A newspaper story about the fact that ex-Madison County Treasurer Fred Bathon continues to collect on a $90,000-per-year state pension has led state Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon, to co-sponsor a bill to ban criminals from receiving taxpayer-funded pensions.

House Bill 3665 amends the Illinois pension code to cut off pension benefits to participants in a state retirement fund who are convicted of corrupt acts linked to their public service.

Crimes covered by the measure include intimidation by a public official, bribery, official misconduct, engaging in kickbacks, fraudulently obtaining public money reserved for a disadvantaged business enterprise and certain types of theft.

Kay said in a statement that he was "outraged to learn that criminals continue to receive a taxpayer funded pension after pleading guilty for an act they committed while serving the taxpayers.

Kay added the he believed that rewarding elected officials with a pension after they admittedly broke the law while serving the taxpayers should be stopped. Mike Fitzgerald with the Belview News-Democrat tells the story.