In the midst of the slumping economy, Congress is still up for an automatic pay raise. Last year, Congress voted to stop pay raises for 2010, and it looks as though the same will happen for 2011. Congressman Burton has not only jumped on board to cap Congressional pay, he supported it before the economy started to decline by sending his prior raises back to the U.S. Treasury. Tim Turner from the Kokomo Perspective shares a quote from Congressman Burton's Press Secretary, John Donnelly.
“Since 2007, the Congressman has authored or cosponsored legislation to block the annual Cost of Living Adjustment, or pay raise, for members of Congress,” said John Donnelly, press secretary for Burton. “Before this year, the House never approved those pieces of legislation, and so Congressman Burton sent the amount of the pay raise reflected in his paychecks back to the U.S. Treasury. For the current fiscal year, Congress did adopt a measure to block the Congressional COLA, so no House member will receive a pay raise this year. However, there is not yet a measure in place to block the 2011 COLA, and so Congressman Burton has once again joined the effort to block it by cosponsoring H.R. 4255, the Stop the Automatic Pay Raise for Members of Congress in FY2011 Act.”
This is an unusual move, and likely will prove unusually powerful.
Thank you for your support of the SEALS.
Posted by: Vicktorya Stone | March 04, 2010 at 04:09 PM