Bill > A03188

This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that significantly modifies the rules regarding public officers' pensions in cases of criminal conviction or impeachment. The bill allows for the reduction, revocation, or forfeiture of a public pension for a public officer convicted of a felony directly related to their official duties, with a court required to consider factors such as crime severity, proportionality, and potential hardship to dependents. Additionally, the bill mandates automatic revocation of a public pension for any public officer convicted through an impeachment process, and importantly, this provision applies retroactively to public officers already convicted on impeachment charges. The definition of "public officer" is broad, encompassing elected officials, gubernatorial appointees, local government administrators, department heads, municipal fiscal officers, judges, and high-level policy-making employees. The amendment would take effect after voter approval and would apply to crimes committed on or after January 1st following the ratification. The bill also makes a minor grammatical update to gender-neutral language in the impeachment trial section of the state constitution, specifying that impeachment judgment can now explicitly include pension revocation.

Justice

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A3188