Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) introduced bipartisan legislation permanently banning automatic pay raises for members of Congress.

Current law dictates Congress receive a pay raise automatically. The No Raise for Congress Act would remove legislative language, enacted in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, that provides members with an automatic pay raise each Congress. For the last 10 years, Congress has instituted a pay freeze for Members. This year however, the Fiscal Year 2020 Legislative Branch appropriations bill reported out of the Appropriations Committee included a roughly $4,500 pay increase for members of Congress.

“With bipartisan support, we were able to force House leadership to freeze pay for Members of Congress. Gridlock on major issues must not be rewarded. Members of Congress need a reality check, not a raise. This bill will stop the automatic pay raises for good,” said Fitzpatrick.

“Hardworking men and women across Upstate New York don’t receive automatic pay raises each year and neither should members of Congress,” Brindisi said. “We successfully fought to prevent this year’s pay raise, but we need a permanent solution. Our bipartisan bill will end automatic pay raises once and for all. Now let’s get to work on lowering health care costs, rebuilding our infrastructure, and living up to the promises we made our veterans.” 

Earlier this week, Fitzpatrick and Brindisi worked together to prevent an automatic pay raise for this Congress.  Their bipartisan effort forced House Leadership to remove the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, which included the pay raise, from consideration this week. Text of the No Raise for Congress Act can be found HERE.