Taxpayers spending $200,000 for suspended insurance commissioner

ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia taxpayers are spending nearly $200,000 a year in salary and benefits for an insurance commissioner who’s been suspended for nearly two years.

When Insurance Commissioner John King presented his budget to lawmakers last week, it included $194,899 for “one-time funds for one filled executive position.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports King said that’s what the state is spending for salary and benefits for Jim Beck, who was indicted in May 2019, just a few months after taking office.

Beck is accused of bilking his former employer out of $2 million.

Gov. Brian Kemp suspended him from office a few days after his indictment.