Bloomberg: Bipartisan Panel Approves Plans to Improve Congress
A framework for replacing earmarks and moving to biennial budget resolutions were among the 40 recommendations approved Thursday by a bipartisan House panel tasked with finding ways to improve the functioning of Congress.
The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which has six Republicans and six Democrats, capped off two years of working to find a way to improve congressional efficiency that would be accepted by a polarized Capitol Hill. The package included prioritizing committee work and encouraging debate on the House floor.
A proposal to require the budget to be adopted every two years, rather than every year, is supported by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as well as former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who have argued it would give Congress one less deadline to meet and make federal spending more predictable.
The panel also proposed, as an alternative to earmarks, a community-focused grant program that would allow local officials, rather than ones in Washington, to decide the details of how federal funds should be used in their areas. The program, which has buy-in from members of the Appropriations Committee, would help avoid shutdowns, said Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), chairman of the select committee.
Vice Chairman Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) said there would be oversight, as well as the claw-back of any funds not used properly.
“We all know and expect that congressional-directed spending would return,” Graves said. “It was important to us that we develop a framework that, if it were to come back, it would be the North Star of how you could do it.”
The practice of earmarking, the insertion of specific local projects in spending bills, has been banned in the House since 2011 following criticism that many of the projects had little merit and often benefited lawmakers with more clout.
Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) suggested the local grant program could have the same issues as earmarks. He said lawmakers with more seniority might be able to secure larger grants for their districts and that members would be promised larger grants in exchange for votes on other pieces of legislation. Despite his reservations, Timmons voted for the package of recommendations.
Staffer Pay
The committee’s other recommendations include increasing congressional staffers’ pay to combat a brain-drain, as experienced staffers leave for more lucrative jobs elsewhere, Kilmer said. The recommendations call for more funding to member’s offices and a voluntary pay-band system that sets suggested salary levels for different positions.
The panel also suggested decoupling the salaries of staffers from those of lawmakers. Currently, staff can’t be paid more than lawmakers, who have blocked their own salary increases for more than a decade.
The committee doesn’t have the jurisdiction to craft bills but has worked with other committees to implement recommendations on technology, increasing efficiency, and bipartisanship. In March, the House adopted a resolution (H. Res. 756) containing a number of its suggestions.
Source: By: Emily Wilkins
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