I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3136 
To provide for rates of pay for Members of Congress to be adjusted as 
a function of changes in Government spending. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 6, 2011 
Mr. FORBES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for rates of pay for Members of Congress to 
be adjusted as a function of changes in Government 
spending. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Ac-
countability Pay Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CHANGE IN METHOD FOR ADJUSTING PAY. 
Section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act 
of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31) is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘SEC. 601. (a)(1) This subsection applies with re-
spect to— 
‘‘(A) each Senator, Member of the House of 
Representatives, and Delegate to the House of Rep-
resentatives, and the Resident Commissioner from 
Puerto Rico, 
‘‘(B) the President pro tempore of the Senate, 
the majority leader and the minority leader of the 
Senate, and the majority leader and the minority 
leader of the House of Representatives, and 
‘‘(C) the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives. 
‘‘(2) Whenever outlays for any fiscal year are greater 
than outlays for the preceding fiscal year, then, effective 
as of the first day of the first applicable pay period begin-
ning on or after January 1 of the calendar year next be-
ginning after the close of the second of those 2 fiscal 
years, the rate of pay for each position under paragraph 
(1) shall be decreased by the percentage (rounded to the 
nearest 1⁄10 of 1 percent) equal to the percentage by which 
outlays for the second of those 2 fiscal years are greater 
than outlays for the first of those 2 fiscal years, but in 
no event below $1. 
‘‘(3) The Congressional Budget Office shall prescribe 
any regulations necessary to carry out this subsection, in-
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cluding regulations governing the determination of total 
outlays for a fiscal year. 
‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘out-
lays’ means budget outlays, as defined by section 3 of the 
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 (2 U.S.C. 622). 
‘‘(5) This subsection shall apply for purposes of de-
termining rates of pay for pay periods beginning on or 
after January 1, 2013.’’. 
SEC. 3. COORDINATION RULE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 225(l)(3) of the Federal 
Salary Act of 1967 (2 U.S.C. 362(3)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub-
section, in the case of a position referred to in section 
601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 
U.S.C. 31), no recommendation referred to in this sub-
section (in the matter before paragraph (1)) may be made 
which, if enacted, would cause the rate of pay for any such 
position to differ from the rate of pay which would, as 
of any given time, then be payable with respect to such 
position under such section 601(a).’’. 
(b) EXCLUSION OF JUDGES.—Such section 225(l)(3) 
is further amended— 
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(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking all that 
follows ‘‘recommended for’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 
Vice President of the United States, respectively, 
shall be equal.’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking all that 
follows ‘‘a Delegate to the House of Representa-
tives,’’ and that precedes ‘‘and each office or posi-
tion under section 5313 of title 5’’. 
Æ 
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