Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie recently discussed a piece of legislation pending in the Illinois House that would suspend taxpayer-funded pension payments for former elected officials charged with a felony. Rep. McCombie supports the measure, which is sponsored by State Representative Amy Elik (R-Alton), saying that “those who break the law should not receive taxpayer money.”
“I think it is a commonsense approach,” McCombie conitnued. “If you’ve earned your pension and earned it doing unethical and illegal things, you certainly don’t deserve to have said pension, especially when it is one paid for by the taxpayers.”
The bill, HB1277, is still pending further consideration in the Illinois House. It’s a direct response to various corruption cases playing out in federal court, including former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan who will be in court early next year facing charges of corruption, racketeering, bribery, and extortion.