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Congress Quietly Agrees To Give Themselves A Raise Never let it be said that Congress cannot work in a bipartisan manner. Both Republican and Democratic House leaders have agreed to push for a 3 percent Cost-Of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for Members of Congress, the third such pay raise in four years. Should the raise take effect in January, Congressional salaries would rise by 2.7 % to $145,100. Members do not receive the same type of COLA as Social Security recipients because their pay increases are measured by the Employment Cost Index rather than the Consumer Price Index. On January 2000 Members of Congress received a 3.4% COLA increase while Social Security recipients received only 2.4%. A 1989 law allows automatic pay raises for Members of Congress unless they vote to block it. An anti-COLA amendment was soundly defeated in the House. The anti-COLA issue was not even mentioned Senate. Source: "Congress Leaders Want Pay Raise", Alan Fram, The Associated Press, June 28, 2000. This article first appeared in Volume 5, Issue 10 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (October/2000). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here. | ||||||||
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