B
ack in 2003, former Texas Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Dan Morales pleaded guilty to a felony charge of altering government records.
The scheme helped an attorney friend of the AG's collect more than $500 million as part of the $17.5 billion tobacco lawsuit settlement.
He spent three years in prison right here at the Texarkana Federal Correctional Institution.
In 2011, former state Rep. Jim Solis of Harlingen, a lawyer, agreed to plea deal on charges he paid a judge to rule in his favor in some cases. He spent three years in prison. Those are just two of nearly 30 former Texas officials who, though convicted of felony crimes, may still be drawing a pension from the state.
According to an article published this week in the Texas Tribune, 29 former state, county and local officials convicted of crimes meet eligibility requirements for state pensions, though the Tribune could not confirm which, if any, are actually receiving the money because of state confidentiality laws.
It's the kind of thing that makes your blood boil. It didn't make state Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, any too happy either. He has filed a bill to stop pensions for public servants convicted of a felony. Unfortunately it's not retroactive, so any felonious officials already getting paid will continue to do so.
But if passed, it will put a stop to the largesse in the future.
The bill passed in the Senate earlier this month. Now it goes to the House.
We urge House members to approve the legislation. No one who breaks the public trust should be paid a pension by the public.