Legislative Pay and Operations (H.R. 4487)

What is H.R. 4487?

(Updated January 31, 2017)

The bill that provides annual funding for the offices of the members of the House of Representatives, the support agencies of Congress (security and medical staff, for example), and Capitol operations and maintenance. Notably, the legislation includes a provision to freeze the pay of Members of Congress, preventing any pay increases in fiscal year 2015, which begins October 1st, 2014. A freeze on the salaries of Representatives has been in place since 2010. The bill is $122.5 million below the President's budget request. According to Washington Watch, the bill would cost $10.94 per person, or $43.77 per family of four. 

Argument in favor

The House continues to lead through example by freezing their pay for another fiscal year.

Argument opposed

Amendents would freezes funding for the Botanic Gardens and Capitol Visitor Center, and defund the Open World Leadership Center's Trust Fund.

Impact

Cost of H.R. 4487

This total excludes Senate-only items; it will be passed on to Senate after the House votes on it.

Additional Info

Of Note: 

-In all, funding for the House of Representatives has been reduced by 14% since Republicans gained its control in January 2011. 

-Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has set an ambitious goal of marking up all 12 spending bills by July 4, and for the House to finish debating all 12 by the August recess.

In Detail: 

House Operations: The bill contains $1.2 billion to fund the operations of the House--the same as fiscal year 2014. 

Capitol Police: The bill funds the Capitol Police at $347 million, an increase of $9.5 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The funding will also help maintain and improve public access to the Capitol and its office buildings.
Architect of the Capitol (AoC): The legislation provides $488.6 million for the AoC, which is $40.5 million below the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The AoC requires less funding for fiscal year 2015, as one-time construction costs included in previous years’ budgets are no longer necessary. The bill also includes $21 million in funding for the third and final phase of the Capitol Dome restoration project.
Library of Congress (LoC) – The legislation provides $595 million for the Library of Congress, an increase of $15.9 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The bill will provide for the development of online classroom services for students studying Congress and civic participation, and will help reduce claims backlog and processing time for copyright registrations.

Government Accountability Office (GAO) – The bill contains $519.6 million in funding for the GAO, an increase of $14.2 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. This funding will bolster GAO’s critical oversight work – providing Congress with accurate, nonpartisan reporting of federal programs and tracking of how taxpayer dollars are spent.

Government Printing Office (GPO) – The legislation includes $122 million for GPO, an increase of $3.2 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The legislation maintains the previous year’s level for printing and binding services, and implements limitations on delivery of documents to individual Member offices in order to reduce excess costs. Additional funds are provided for technology infrastructure and facilities upgrades to enable more efficient and cost-effective services.

-A list of amendments to the bill can be found here.