Cuccinelli Seeking $30 Million for Police Retirement Funds

Posted by William Callahan

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Republican candidate for governor in the 2013 election, is seeking $30 million from the federal government to put towards retirement plans for law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth.

The Richmond Times Dispatch reports that Cuccinelli has requested that the Treasury Department release the money from a Medicaid fraud settlement in 2012.

For spearheading the investigation, Virginia gets $115 million from last year’s $1.5 billion national settlement with Abbott Laboratories over legal issues with Depakote, an anti-seizure drug.

The Attorney General’s office has already collected $10 million, which it will put towards internal programs, according to the Times Dispatch.

The remaining $105 million is required to go towards public safety, and the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture will approve the specific allocations.

Cuccinelli said he wants to put $30 million into Virginia Retirement System accounts, police retirement funds he said were inadequate and in need of cash infusions.

The money will go into two separate accounts – one for state police and another for campus police, Capitol Police, Alcoholic Beverage Control agents and conservation officers, among others.

Plans for the remaining money are still pending.

Read the entire story on the Richmond Times Dispatch.