“New Yorkers deserve representatives they can trust, not politicians who sell them out to help themselves. From the start, I’ve been at the front of the push to ensure no corrupt politician receives a pension funded by the very taxpayers whose trust they betrayed. Allowing officials who abuse their power to keep taking tax dollars is not right, and it’s time we put an end to it.

“That’s why I was one of the original co-sponsors of legislation to revoke pensions from public officers convicted of corruption (A.1749) and have continued to push for this important bill. Politicians are not above the law. Now that the pension forfeiture bill has passed the Legislature twice, it will be put on the ballot in November for voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution.

“A joint resolution was also passed today requiring all lawmakers who earn outside income of more than $5,000 a year to disclose that information to the independent Legislative Ethics Commission (LEC) for a ruling to avoid possible conflicts of interest (B.404/C.25). This will help ensure that lawmakers are working on behalf of the voters, not wealthy special interests. As a legislator who has outside income, this is a rule I and all other members must be willing to abide by.

“Holding public office should be motivated by only one thing: wanting to help New Yorkers get ahead. These ethics reforms will go a long way toward restoring integrity in government.”