27th Amendment Enforcement Act
Bill: H.R.9418 | Sponsor: Rep. Perlmutter, Ed (D-CO)
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
27th Amendment Enforcement Act
This bill increases the annual rate of pay for Members of Congress by applying cost-of-living adjustments.

To revise the annual rate of pay of Members of Congress to restore 
cost-of-living increases which were waived under previous laws, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``27th Amendment Enforcement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Under a longstanding law, the annual rates of pay for 
        Members of Congress are subject to cost-of-living adjustments 
        whenever the President adjusts the annual rates of pay 
        applicable to Federal employees covered by the General 
        Schedule.
            (2) The 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
        States, ratified in 1992, prohibits any law ``varying the 
        compensation of Senators and Representatives'' from taking 
        effect until after the next regularly scheduled general 
        election for Members of the House of Representatives.
            (3) Since the 27th Amendment was ratified, on over a dozen 
        occasions Congress has enacted a law to prohibit these cost-of-
        living adjustments from taking effect, which means that each of 
        these laws has varied the compensation of Members of Congress 
        from what the compensation would have been if these laws had 
        not been enacted.
            (4) In nearly every instance, each of these laws took 
        effect prior to the next election for Members of the House, in 
        violation of the 27th Amendment.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, in order 
to provide relief from the changes which were made to the annual rates 
of pay of Members of Congress by laws which were in violation of the 
27th Amendment, the adjustments which were prohibited by these laws 
must be restored.

SEC. 3. RESTORING COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS IN RATES OF PAY OF MEMBERS 
              OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Restoration.--Section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization 
Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``as adjusted by 
        paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``as adjusted by paragraphs (2) 
        and (3)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(3) The annual rate of pay for the positions described in 
paragraph (1) shall be the rate which would have applied to such 
positions during the most recent pay period beginning before the date 
of the enactment of this paragraph if no laws had been enacted prior to 
such date to prohibit adjustments to such rate under paragraph (2).''.
    (b) Determination and Publication of Rates.--Not later than 60 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Administrative 
Officer of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate 
shall determine and publish the annual rates of pay for the positions 
described in paragraph (1) of section 601(a) of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) and the date on which such 
rates shall take effect, taking into account the amendments made by 
subsection (a).
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