Nevada Sen. Rosen's anti-corruption bill heads to president's desk

Jessica Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Dec 18, 2024

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Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen announced this week that her bill aimed to punish corrupt politicians passed both congressional chambers and was sent to the president to sign into law.

The No “Congressional Obligated Recurring Revenue Used As Pensions to Incarcerated Officials Now” (CORRUPTION) Act, will prevent members of Congress from collecting taxpayer-funded pensions if they are convicted of a felony related to corruption, even if they drag out the appeals process.

Under current law, former members of Congress convicted of a felony must forfeit their pensions after exhausting their appeals, which can drag on for years, according to Rosen’s office.

The No CORRUPTION Act, sponsored by Rosen and Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott, amends the law to close that loophole, forcing former members of Congress to lose their pensions immediately following a conviction.

“If you’re a lawmaker that’s been convicted of a felony, there’s literally no way you should be getting your government funded pension, which is getting paid by the American taxpayer,” Rosen said.

“People can’t pay their own bills,” the senator said. “Why should they be supporting someone who’s broken the law, been convicted of a felony, who might be going through appeal after appeal and just getting that pension the whole time?”

Pension amounts vary based on how long a former congressional member has served, their age and other factors, Rosen said.

As of October 2022, there were 619 retired members of Congress receiving federal pensions. About 261 received an average annual pension of $84,504, and 358 had a members received an average annual pension of $45,276 in 2023, according to Congressional Research Service.

Rosen said the bill isn’t aimed at anyone specific, but rather to send a message to corrupt politicians that they will be held accountable.

“We’re trying to find ways to send messages to folks here and other places that we are about protecting taxpayer dollars,” Rosen said.

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