Monday, June 15, 1998

No election-year raise

Congress will not be getting a scheduled pay hike. The reason: It's an election year.

By law, members of Congress get cost-of-living increases in their pay - unless they act affirmatively to block the increase, and Thursday they did, discreetly and at the lowest possible level, a voice vote in a subcommittee.

The lawmakers didn't need to act so soon, but if they denied themselves the increase close to election day it would still draw attention to the fact that they are paid $136,673 a year.

Percentage-wise, the increase wasn't much, only 2.6 percent, but it would have put them over $140,000, a more dramatic figure during an election campaign. Don't worry. They'll give it to themselves next year. They did in 1997 after going without in the 1996 election year.