Gov. Cuomo orders new regulations to crack down on pension fund gravy train for officials, pals
Tuesday, April 26th 2011, 5:25 PM
Lombard for News
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing new regulations to reign in the pension system.ALBANY - Gov. Cuomo wants to end the pension fund gravy train for elected officials and their pals.
Cuomo said he has ordered the Insurance Department to develop new regulations that would prohibit elected officials from appearing before the state controller for any pension fund activity.
The ban, part of a broader pension reform regulatory plan under development, would eliminate even an appearance of favoritism, Cuomo said.
"The pension fund should be kept pure, and money belonging to taxpayers should not be the plaything of elected officials," Cuomo said.
The Daily News previously reported that elected officials like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and then-Senate President Malcolm Smith helped investment seekers score sit-downs with Controller Thomas DiNapoli.
The legislative leaders said they were not paid for their help.
The draft regulations, which will be released in several weeks, stem from a multi-year probe Cuomo undertook as attorney general into a massive pension fund pay-to-play scam.
They will make permanent a ban on lobbyists and other middlemen representing investment firms from appearing before the controller's office on pension matters.
The News has reported that politicos-turned-lobbyists Fernando Ferrer, Roberto Ramirez, and former Assembly Minority Leader John Faso got in the pension fund door.
Cuomo said that the regs will also:
**Prohibit immediate employment by investment firms of former public pension fund officials and employees.
**Continue to prohibit firms making contributions to the controller from getting pension fund business.
The announcement comes just weeks after disgraced former Controller Alan Hevesi was sentenced to up to four years in prison for his role in the pay-to-play scandal.
DiNapoli spokesman Dennis Tompkins said the controller has already put in place many of the suggested reforms, though Cuomo's rules would make them permanent.
Tompkins wouldn't comment on the plan to ban elected officials from any pension fund business.
Cuomo yesterday said he will also soon introduce legislation to strip public pensions of elected officials convicted of corruption, something DiNapoli advocates.
"It is long past time that we learned the lessons of the Hevesi case and made permanent changes to our system that will stop the culture of corruption," Cuomo said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/04/26/2011-04-26_gov_cuomo_orders_new_regulations_to_crack_down_on_pension_fund_gravy_train_for_o.html#ixzz1Kh8eeiyh
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