Juries found both Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos guilty of corrupt abuse of their high offices — yet together they’ll still draw public pensions of nearly $200,000 a year for the rest of their lives.
That’s the reality after Skelos, the former state Senate majority leader, filed his pension papers Tuesday. With 45 years in various public-sector jobs, he’s eligible for $95,000 in benefits.
The felons’ pensions are protected even after official misconduct.
A 2011 reform allows for ending the benefit for officials who started after that year. Anything stronger requires a constitutional change — passage of an amendment in consecutive legislative sessions and by public referendum.
But the Assembly this year declined to pass the necessary bill, so most felonious pols’ taxpayer-paid pensions are still safe.
That’s typical of Albany’s reaction to these landmark convictions. And it’s not just the Legislature: All the major players refuse to return the tainted donations from Glenwood Management.
Glenwood was neck-deep in both Silver and Skelos schemes, and did its best to conceal it. It escaped prosecution, but its money is still dirty.
Yet only Mayor Bill de Blasio’s been willing to part with his Glenwood cash. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, along with the legislative GOP and Democratic campaign committees, won’t pay the price to take a clear stand against corruption.
Albany may have been shocked by the Silver-Skelos convictions — but it refuses to show shame.