Pension is Property of the Employee

The latest outrage of the reform-minded in Madison is that recently convicted state lawmakers are eligible to receive their pensions. A flurry of newspaper editorials and statements from government watchdogs has spurred legislative proposals to deny pensions to convicted lawmakers in Wisconsin.

Bill Wineke’s column about such proposals is right on the money.

A pension is not a gift from employer to employee; it is part of an employee's overall compensation package, and when employment terminates, the pension belongs to the employee. Any attempt by the legislature to seize that property is not likely hold up in court, especially if it’s done retroactively.

Moreover, it’s not the role of the state legislature to exact punishment after the fact. It is the role of the court to determine the appropriate punishment and restitution in each case. Convicted lawmakers have been sentenced, and will likely be ordered to pay substantial restitution as a condition of their probation. That may require cashing out their pension funds and disposing of other personal assets. It’s not fair for self-righteous legislators to pass a special law to rescind compensation their former colleagues have already earned with the courts forcing them to pay restitution on top of that.

I have a better idea. Let’s seize the pensions of those hypocrites in the state legislature who committed crimes for which they were never charged --- either because they didn’t do it "as much as the other guys" -- or because they belonged to the right party at the right time.

What’d you say we start with Mike Ellis and Spencer Black?