In response to Thursday’s Capital New York article of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara reclaiming the pension of a former New York City councilman who was convicted on corruption charges, Assemblymember Steck reiterated the need to pass legislation to strip lawmakers of their pensions who are convicted of a felony.

“I commend the U.S. Attorney’s recent efforts to reclaim pensions, but there’s a better way to further crack down on convicted officials – we shouldn’t have to go after them individually to return taxpayer money. The law needs to change to hold all officials accountable. That’s why I’m pushing for legislation to ensure that no public official who breaks the law and violates the public’s trust is able to collect a pension paid for with taxpayer dollars. Period.”