Jun. 13, 2018
HARRISBURG – The Senate Finance Committee today approved legislation, sponsored by Rep. Frank Farry (R-Bucks), which would strengthen Pennsylvania’s laws governing public corruption.
“Unfortunately, Pennsylvania has a long history of public corruption, and we need to ensure our laws do not allow offenders to evade the consequences of their crimes.”
House Bill 939 would require pension forfeiture if a public employee or public official is convicted or pleads guilty or no defense to any felony offense, in addition to those crimes already listed in Act 140. The bill would also impact federal crimes that are classified as felonies or are punishable by a term of at least five years in prison.
Currently, the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act does not prevent public employees or public officials who are charged with a forfeiture crime from pleading to an offense that does not trigger pension forfeiture.
“Public officials would not be able to avoid losing their taxpayer-paid pension by pleading guilty to a lesser crime as we have seen in some high-profile cases over time,” Farry said.
House Bill 939 was originally authored by former Rep. Scott Petri prior to his resignation from the state House of Representatives in late 2017. The bill now moves to the full Senate for consideration.
Representative Frank Farry
142nd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Abbey Haslam
717.260.6222
ahaslam@pahousegop.com
RepFarry.com