Another January, Another Congressional Pay Raise
Jeff Jacoby, January
5, 2004, ©2003 Boston Globe
A happy new year? For US senators and
representatives, it certainly is: As of Jan. 1, their salary is $158,100 -- the
highest ever and an increase of $3,400 over the amount they collected last
year.
Congress is notorious for procrastination, and the tally of unfinished business
on Capitol Hill is a long one. But no one can accuse the legislative
branch of dragging its heels when it comes to congressional pay.
Appropriations bills may gather dust, judicial nominations may languish, but
members of Congress are johnny-on-the-spot when it
comes to their own salaries. The most recent raise is only the latest in
an ongoing series:
On Jan.
1, 2003, they took a raise of $4,700.
On Jan.
1, 2002, they took a raise of $4,900.
On Jan.
1, 2001, they took a raise of $3,800.
On Jan.
1, 2000, they took a raise of $4,600.
On Jan.
1, 1998, they took a raise of $3,100.
That comes to six raises totaling $24,500 since January 1998. And why
does Congress feel it deserves them? Ah, well, that's hard to say.
Congress isn't talking.
Few Americans have the power to award themselves a bigger paycheck at will;
fewer still can do so and charge it to the public treasury. The
Constitution grants members of Congress the privilege of paying themselves with
taxpayers' money, but with that privilege comes a
moral obligation to operate in the sunshine. Or so it used to be
understood. Once upon a time, senators and representatives knew that
before they could raise their salaries, they had to hold hearings and take a
vote. Those votes could be politically uncomfortable, and the public's
reaction had to be taken into account. Not surprisingly, Congress tended
to go long stretches between pay raises, and lawmakers knew better than to hike
their pay during a recession. (On a few occasions, they even reduced
their pay.)
But Congress has changed the rules. Under the system now in place, House
and Senate members automatically get a pay raise every year. The only way
*not* to get the raise is to pass an amendment blocking it, and parliamentary
hurdles make that difficult to accomplish. Upshot: a congressional
paycheck that grows by thousands of dollars a year -- with no hearings, no
debate, no media coverage, no public explanations. Above all, no
embarrassing votes -- not unless some spoilsport with more integrity than
avarice insists on offering a blocking amendment.
One of the very few such spoilsports is Senator Russell Feingold, a liberal
Wisconsin Democrat who for several years has introduced an amendment to stop
the pay raise, and each time has seen his amendment tabled -- i.e., killed
without being debated and voted on -- by a lopsided Senate majority.
"I object to the process," he said during a phone conversation
last week. "This automatic, stealth pay-raise system is absolutely
wrong. Especially now, when we're running the biggest deficits in US
history, when so many people are out of work -- I find it startling that
Congress would feel comfortable voting itself a pay raise."
And what kind of reaction does he get from his colleagues when he offers his
amendment?
"It's not my most popular
moment," Feingold concedes. "I get the coldest
stares." Some senators try to reason with him. "They tell
me about their kids' tuition. Or they say, 'Don't you think you're worth
more money?' " He tells them that if they
think they deserve an increase, they should be willing to vote for one.
Feingold puts his own money where his mouth is, refusing any increase in
pay during each six-year senatorial term. Though he is perhaps the least
affluent member of the Senate, he has returned more than $50,000 to the
Treasury over the past 11 years. Meanwhile, multimillionaire senators
like Ted Kennedy, Jon Corzine, and Majority Leader
Bill Frist vote to table Feingold's amendment and
preserve the annual stealth pay raise.
Some members of Congress claim they are underpaid; even at $158,100, they say,
the salary of a federal lawmaker is well below what many people in the private
sector make.
Maybe it is. But that doesn't stop hundreds of willing candidates --
including every incumbent senator and representative -- from running for
Congress at the existing salary. Every member of Congress is free to walk
away from Capitol Hill to earn more money in the private sector. Yet
virtually all of them choose to run for re-election.
Maybe that's because most of them wouldn't be able to do better in a
private-sector job. Maybe it's because the power and influence that come
with holding federal office more than make up for any loss of income. Or
maybe it's because the perks of office are so comfortable: In addition to their
salary, members of Congress get (among other benefits) large staffs, free
office space in their district and in Washington, numerous round trips home
each year, free foreign travel, largely unlimited free postage, use of the
lavish congressional gyms, and a pension far more lucrative than almost any
private-sector plan.
So yes, by all means, wish your senators and congressman a happy new
year. As usual, they're having one.