JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ By refusing to resign, Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal could be gambling her state pension.
The University City Democrat has resisted calls to step down since August after she hoped for President Donald Trump's assassination in a Facebook comment. Republican leadership has given her until Wednesday's veto session to leave her seat or else risk being removed from office.
If Chappelle-Nadal did resign, she would be in line to collect a $1,746-per-month pension from the state when she turns 55 in 2029, according to the Missouri State Employee Retirement System, or MOSERS.
If she does not resign, and two-thirds of the Missouri Senate votes to expel her, she could lose it all.
Candace Smith, spokeswoman for MOSERS, said she would not comment on a hypothetical. But she did point to a provision in the retirement agency's handbook which outlines how a lawmaker can lose his or her pension.
One of the conditions: "Remov(al) from office by impeachment or for misconduct."
MOSERS administers retirement benefits for most state employees, including members of the Legislature. Benefits are paid out from contributions by state agencies, income from investments and from a 4 percent contribution paid by state employees hired after Jan. 1, 2011.
If Chappelle-Nadal fills out the rest of her final Senate term _ which ends in January 2019 _ or if she resigns, she could collect a pension greater than other lawmakers who have run into controversy.
In addition to her seven years in the Senate, Chappelle-Nadal served three terms in the House and 29 months as a general state employee, according to MOSERS. Chappelle-Nadal did not return calls Monday or Tuesday.
To become vested in the state's retirement system, a lawmaker must serve six full years. That means former state Rep. Don Gosen, a Ballwin Republican, who was elected in 2010 but resigned in February 2016 following an extramarital affair, is not going to collect a state pension.
The same goes for former state Rep. Scott Muschany, a Huntleigh Republican, who was first elected in 2004 and resigned in 2008 after being accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. He was acquitted in 2009.
GOP state Rep. Warren Love of Osceola has also faced calls to resign after he expressed hope on Facebook that whoever vandalized a Springfield, Mo., Confederate monument be hanged.
Love, if he remains in office, will become vested in 2019 and would receive $748 per month if he chose not to run for re-election next year.
Former House Speaker John Diehl, a Town and Country Republican who resigned in 2015 after exchanging sexually charged texts with a Capitol intern, is set to receive $790 per month starting in 2020, according to MOSERS. He was in the middle of his fourth term when he resigned.
Former Democratic state Sen. Paul LeVota of Independence resigned in 2015 after sexual harassment allegations involving interns. In 2023, he will be able to receive a $1,320-per-month pension for his four terms in the House and less than one term in the Senate.
Former House Speaker Rod Jetton, a Marble Hill Republican, left office in January 2009 because of term limits. In 2011, Jetton pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault, admitting he hit and choked a woman before and during sex in a November 2009 incident, after he had left office.
Jetton will be able to receive $1,466 per month starting in 2022.
Another way to lose your pension if you are a lawmaker is to commit a felony after Aug. 28, 1999, in connection with your official duties.
Lawmakers approved that measure after former House Speaker Bob Griffin, a Cameron Democrat, was convicted in 1997 of bribery and mail fraud.
He was sentenced to four years in federal prison, and his sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton soon before the president left office.
According to MOSERS, Griffin, now 82, receives $5,146 per month for his 38 years in government.
Since 1996, Griffin has collected $1,075,420 in pension benefits.
