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Hastert To Lose Pension

Tannen Maury
/
EPA

An Illinois retirement board is terminating former U-S House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s state pension.

He’d been collecting about $28,000 a year for his service in the state legislature.

The General Assembly Retirement System's board of trustees has voted 5 to 2 to end the pension.

State Representative Mike Zalewski a Democrat from Riverside, said Hastert’s financial crimes related to his role as a public official.

“As a result of these payments, they would have affected his public career. His General Assembly service was part and parcel with that, so we felt it was a prudent decision," said Zalewski.

Hastert is serving a 15-month prison term in a hush-money case stemming from his sexual abuse of students as a high school wrestling coach more than 35 years ago.

Hastert's attorneys didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision. Hastert could appeal the decision in state court.

The Illinois attorney general's office previously recommended that the board reduce Hastert's pension to 9-thousand dollars a year. Hastert also receives a pension for his tenure in Congress.
 

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