WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Matheson — who for years has led annual fights against automatic pay raises for members of Congress — praised the Senate for passing a bill Thursday that would halt a raise for 2011. He urged the House to follow suit.
"Thousands of Utahns have no jobs, let alone the opportunity to receive a pay raise. I'm glad the Senate recognized how inappropriate it is to take the stealth salary increase, and the House should follow suit," he said.
The Senate passed by voice vote a bill by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., to kill the automatic pay raise for Congress for 2011. Congress also opted not to take a raise in 2010 because of complaints about it by constituents during the recession.
But even before the recession, Matheson waged what had been a losing battle year after year trying to stop automatic raises. He has reintroduced a bill this year to permanently repeal the law that allows them, and to force members to vote on raises.
"We should be willing to make an open case about whether or not — as public servants — we deserve a pay raise. Today, the stronger case is that a lot of belt-tightening is required, starting with us," Matheson said.
The current salary for members of Congress is $174,000.
Matheson donates the amount of any pay raise annually to a variety of charities in his district.
This story was reported from Salt Lake City.
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