Recent news reports uncovered that some education lawyers received both a retainer and a salary from several school districts in order to build up their state pension.

In an effort to end this practice, I am co-sponsoring legislation with the Senate sponsor, Senator Dean Skelos, that would make it illegal for school districts to pay a lawyer both a retainer and a salary for providing legal services. Any law firm that violates this law could have to pay the state a civil penalty of up to three times the amount of charges and fees they collected.

School districts would also be required to submit to the State Comptroller a list of all employees, including their job titles, annual salaries, the number of hours they are expected to work, and the amount of contributions made to the state and local retirement systems for that employee.

This legislation is a necessary step to ensure that the hard-earned tax dollars of Long Islanders are not wasted on lining the pockets of a few.

Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr.