Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert had his remaining Illinois pension benefits taken away Wednesday by a board that oversees state lawmakers' retirement funds.
The board of trustees for the General Assembly Retirement System, comprised of state lawmakers, voted to revoke the pension Hastert received based on the about six years he spent in Springfield before he was elected to Congress.
Hastert pleaded guilty in 2015 to federal bank violations stemming from an explosive hush-money indictment that unearthed sexual misconduct against underage boys decades ago when he was a Yorkville High School wrestling coach. He's scheduled to get out of prison in August, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons website.
State law says pensions can be revoked when a person is convicted of a felony connected to their time in the General Assembly. Rep. Michael Zalewski argued that Hastert's crimes were designed to protect his political career, which creates that link.
"I would argue his political career is part and parcel with his career as a General Assembly member because his General Assembly career led to his Congressional career," Zalewski, a Democrat, said.
Not everyone on the board agreed. Republican Rep. David Harris said the board should have followed an unofficial recommendation from the attorney general's office to reduce the size of Hastert's pension, not take it away completely. Harris contended Hastert's case was unrelated to his time in Springfield.
"According to statute, there has to be a relationship between the action taken and the penalty, and the action that resulted in the TRS reduction had nothing to do in my mind with his service as a member of the Illinois General Assembly," he said.
Wednesday's move follows earlier action from the Teachers' Retirement System. TRS revoked the pension Hastert earned in his time in Yorkville following his sentencing in April 2016. TRS spokesman Dave Urbanek said their decision was based on state law that prohibits educators from collecting pensions if they're convicted of a felony related to their service as a teacher.
The size of Hastert's lawmaker pension was boosted by rules that help someone who earned benefits in more than one state retirement system. With the teacher payments gone, an unofficial opinion from the attorney general's office said Hastert's retirement benefits should be reduced. Under those recommendations, Hastert's about $2,300-per-month pension would have been cut to $755.
The recommendation suggested the full pension shouldn't be revoked because Hastert's conviction was unrelated to his time as a state lawmaker. The board though, voted 5-2 Wednesday to take the full amount away.
A letter to the board from Hastert attorney Mark DeBofsky dated last month says the former speaker intends to appeal a reduction or termination of his retirement benefits.
"Neither the indictment nor the disposition of the criminal case implicated any wrongdoing by Mr. Hastert during the time he served in the General Assembly," DeBofsky wrote.
Hastert continues to be eligible for a pension from his time in Congress. The National Taxpayers Union in Washington on Tuesday estimated his current federal pension is more than $73,000 and less than $74,000 a year, based on past salaries and tenure. The federal government does not divulge the names of its pensioners or the size of their checks.
Members of Congress must forfeit their pension for dozens of specified crimes, including making false statements, one of the counts that led to Hastert's imprisonment. But the violation must have occurred during one's congressional service to trigger a pension loss. Hastert lied to the FBI in 2014, more than seven years after stepping down from Congress.
