No Budget, No Pay: Holding Congressional Paychecks When They Can't Agree on a Budget (S. 14)
Do you support or oppose this bill?
What is S. 14?
(Updated November 8, 2020)
This bill — the No Budget, No Pay Act — would withhold the paychecks of members of Congress from whichever chamber (the House or the Senate, or both) that can't agree on a federal budget by the start of the corresponding fiscal year on October 1. The payroll administrator for the chamber that can't agree on a budget would put the paychecks of those members of Congress into an escrow account. There would be no retroactive pay for lawmakers for the period in which a budget hadn't been adopted.
Argument in favor
If Congress can’t come to an agreement on one of their most essential responsibilities — funding the government — they don’t deserve to be paid on time.
Argument opposed
This bill is coercive and could force Congressional members to vote for legislation they don't fully agree with. Not every member in Congress is a millionaire.
Impact
Members of Congress, payroll administrators for Congress, the Secretary of State, and the President.
Cost of S. 14
A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. However, a CBO estimate of a previous version of this bill found that implementation would not have a significant impact on the federal budget.
Additional Info
In-Depth: In 2013, both the Senate and the House passed a version of this bill, as part of a plan to suspend the debt limit. Under that measure, lawmakers would not get their paychecks unless each chamber passed a budget by April 15.
So why bother re-introducing this bill? That last bill never required both chambers to agree on a unified budget resolution.
This is all to say that when you're making over $170,000 a year, missing a few paychecks probably won't be the end of the world for you.
Congress’s inability to come to an agreement on a budget has highlighted the disconnect between those in Washington D.C. and those outside the Beltway. For families and business owners, establishing a budget is a routine procedure, yet between April 29, 2009 and March 24, 2013 the Senate did not pass a budget.
The willingness of members of Congress to delay their own paychecks has also emphasized the divide. For a member of Congress the minimum salary is currently $174,000, and the median income for Americans is just over $43,000. In 2011, the median net worth for a member of Congress was $966,000, while the typical household net worth for Americans as a whole is under $67,000.
Media:
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Sponsoring Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) Press Release (Previous Version)
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The Hill
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Republican Party of Virginia
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The Post-Journal
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CBO Cost Estimate (Previous Bill Version)
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Wikipedia (Previous Bill Version)
- New York Times (Context)
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