U.S. Rep. Chris Lee, R-East Amherst, signed on as a co-sponsor of his first legislative bill Tuesday.
He’s one of 59 House members to signal support for the Stop The Congressional Pay Raise Act, a bill introduced on the opening day of the 111th Congress to block an automatic pay raise for members in 2010.
The raise, handled as a cost-of-living adjustment, was provided for by a 1989 law, according to Lee spokesman Andrea Bozek.
“With unemployment on the rise and workers foregoing wage increases ... it is an outrage for this Congress to support a pay raise for itself,” Lee said. “(It) sends the message that Washington is completely out of touch with the struggles of working families.”
This year, the average member’s salary is $174,000. A $4,700 raise kicked in when Congress did not act last year to stop it.
Congress last agreed to freeze its pay in 2000. According to thehill.com, stop-the-raise bills have been introduced annually for the past 14 years but frequently don’t make it through vetting committees for full House and Senate voting.
Sponsors of the current bill are both Republicans and Democrats, Bozek said. The measure is endorsed by fiscal watch groups including National Taxpayers Union, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste and Taxpayers For Common Sense.
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