A Queens lawmaker who faces jail time if he’s convicted on charges of stealing $30,000 in public funds is introducing a bill Thursday requiring the city to inform prison inmates of their voting rights.
City Councilman Ruben Wills is the lead sponsor of a measure that will force the Department of Correction to publicize the right of prisoners — awaiting trial or convicted of misdemeanors — to vote. Convicted felons are barred from the ballot box.
City Hall insiders are snickering that the Queens Democrat, arrested in May for allegedly swiping government funds from a nonprofit that he once ran, might be planning to become a political kingpin behind bars.
“Fair, common-sense legislation has absolutely nothing to do with any legal issues I may be going through and it has been something I have been researching for a couple of years,” said Wills, who is fighting the charges.