A bipartisan pairing of U.S. senators hope to close a loophole in federal law that allows members of Congress convicted of felonies to keep collecting pensions.
The bipartisan “No Congressionally Obligated Recurring Revenue Used As Pensions To Incarcerated Officials Now, or “No CORRUPTION” Act unanimously passed the Senate, and nows head to the House of Representatives for consideration.
Currently, former Members of Congress convicted of a felony must forfeit their pensions only after exhausting their appeals. That allows convicted former members to keep collecting their taxpayer-funded pensions by dragging out the filing of appeals.
The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), blocks members of Congress from “collecting taxpayer-funded pensions if they are convicted of felonies related to their official duties and prevent them from continuing to receive these taxpayer dollars post-conviction by dragging out the appeals process,” Scott reports.
“If you’re a Member of Congress and are convicted of a crime involving public corruption you should lose all pension benefits provided to you by taxpayers and hardworking families—period,” said Scott
“Making Washington work for American families requires real reforms that end the current dysfunction. I’m proud to see our bipartisan, commonsense legislation pass the Senate and urge the House to take up and pass this bill quickly. We can never stop working to hold elected officials accountable and protect taxpayers’ hard-earned money,” said Scott.
“Nevadans sent me to the Senate to fight for them, stand up to business-as-usual politics, and protect their hard-earned dollars from abuse. For too long, loopholes have made it possible for corrupt Washington politicians convicted of felonies to continue collecting taxpayer-funded pensions – that’s unacceptable,” said Rosen.
“It’s why I worked across the aisle to find a commonsense solution to prohibit these corrupt officials from receiving a pension, and I’m glad to see it’s one step closer to becoming law,” said Rosen.
Good government advocates hail the bill’s passage.
“The reform in Senators Jacky Rosen’s and Rick Scott’s No CORRUPTION Act is a win for taxpayers. The commonsense bipartisan legislation closes a loophole in federal law that allows former members of Congress convicted of a crime to still collect a taxpayer-funded pension. We commend Senators Rosen and Scott for their leadership on this good government bill,” said Demian Brady, Vice President of Research at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.
