Prison, pension in Ney’s future--how nice for him--$130,000 a year pension waiting for him after prison.

CONGRESS

Because reforms he urged didn’t pass, he still can get benefits
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Margaret Stevenson and Jack Torry
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio Rep. Bob Ney could be sentenced to 27 months in prison.

WASHINGTON — Even though he voted four months ago to deny pension benefits to members of Congress convicted of a felony relating to their official duties, Rep. Bob Ney will be eligible to receive his congressional pension after he serves his prison sentence.

Ney, has agreed to plead guilty to.... federal charges that he accepted free trips, meals and drinks from nowdisgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and gambling chips worth thousands of dollars from a Syrian businessman.

Next month, a federal judge is expected to sentence him to as many as 27 months in prison. However, Ney, 52, will collect his pension because the Senate and House could not agree on a sweeping package of lobbying and ethics reforms.

The House version approved in May would have prohibited lawmakers convicted of a felony relating to their official duties from receiving their pensions, but House and Senate negotiators have not agreed on a final version of the bill.

When the House approved its bill, Ney issued a news release saying he was "proud to help" pass the measure. The release noted he had insisted that the final version of the bill require that any member convicted of bribery or extortion lose their federal pension.

Mary Jo Kilroy, the Democratic challenger to Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Upper Arlington, called on Congress to "strip Ney of his federal pension so that taxpayers are not left funding a felon’s future. That money should be donated to the U.S. Treasury to pay down the federal deficit."

But Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said there is little chance that Congress would swiftly move to revoke the pension of a member convicted of a crime.

"It’s really pretty outrageous," Sloan said. "They are committing crimes involved with their office and they still get their pensions. The tax dollars shouldn’t be used to pay the pensions of crooked members of Congress."

Although a member of Congress can collect a pension worth as much as 80 percent of his or her $165,000 congressional salary, it is doubtful that Ney’s pension would be that lucrative. Ney has served 12 years in the House and cannot even begin to collect his pension until he reaches age 56 in 2010. And if he begins collecting his pension before age 62, he would receive a reduced amount of money.

jtorry@dispatch.com