Capitol Hill waiters and waitresses, beware. There could be smaller tips in your future if an Arizona lawmaker has her way.
Congress is already not receiving an automatic cost-of-living increase for the second consecutive year. President Barack Obama recently signed the bill that easily passed both sides last month.
But Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) wants to go beyond just taking away next year’s automatic pay raise from Congress. The Hill reports Kirkpatrick is proposing cutting lawmaker salaries by $8,700, or 5 percent, next year.
One less glass of wine with lunch? A steak instead of steak tartare? Woe is the wait staff tip jar at the favorite restos on Cap Hill...
Kirkpatrick’s office said this would be the first time Congress decreased its pay in 77 years -- the last time being in the midst of the Great Depression on April 1, 1933. Her measure has garnered 29 co-sponsors since it was introduced in March.
Kirkpatrick likens the move to how Americans are adjusting and decreasing spending due to the economy. She writes in a letter to the House Administration Committee Chairman Robert Brady (D-Pa.), “In the face of our ever-deepening federal debt, the federal government must follow their example by finding common-sense solutions to do more with less.”
