Lawmaker critical of Jesse Jackson Jr.’s comp benefits

A lawmaker from Illinois wants to change the law that allows former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. to collect $100,000 per year in workers’ compensation benefits despite pleading guilty to illegal use of campaign funding, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I believe if you’re a member of Congress and you are convicted of stealing campaign funds, you should not be eligible to receive workers compensation benefits. Members of Congress need to be good stewards of taxpayer money,” U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., told the newspaper. 

“We’re reviewing the process and possible legislative options to prevent the abuse of this program that is meant for honest-working taxpayers,” he said, according to the Sun-Times.

All federal workers, including members of Congress, are eligible for workers comp, according to the law, if they suffer “from injuries sustained in performance of duty while in service to the United States,” the newspaper reported on Sunday.

Health privacy laws bar the public from knowing what kind of job-related injury Mr. Jackson reportedly suffered in 2012 while performing his duties as a congressman.