Congress Accepts 4th Consecutive Pay Raise

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Congress Accepts 4th Consecutive Pay Raise

Last year may go down in history as one of the worst on record for Congressional gridlock. But when lawmakers returned from the 2002 November elections, they proved they could agree on one thing—a pay raise. Without debate the Senate voted 58-36 to reject a measure by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) that would have denied the raise. The House had approved the raise in July.

On January 1, 2003, members of the House and Senate received a 3.1% pay raise of $4,700. Their annual income rose from $150,000 in 2002 to $154,700 in 2003. Their salaries have gone up $18,000 since 1999.

In 1989, Congress passed a law giving them an automatic pay raise calculated by rate of inflation in the Employment Cost Index (ECI) unless lawmakers voted not to accept the raise. Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) for seniors on the other hand, are calculated using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is generally lower than the ECI because wages tend to rise more quickly than cost inflation. Senior’s annual benefit increase was only 1.4%, effective January 1 of this year.

Source: “Senate Clears Way for Its Pay Raise,” The Associated Press, November 14, 2002.

For a related article see, “Notch Reform Bulletin: Lockbox Essential for Social Security and Notch Reform” at http://www.tscl.org/NewContent/101623.asp.

March 2003