Congressional Pay and Benefits

If you or me or anyone else gets on a rant, let's just make sure we have the facts right. Otherwise we're only adding to the noise and misinformation that is impeding us from getting real work done.

For example, there is a lot of misinformation floating around about the pay and benefits for our Congressmen in the House and Senate. As you might have gathered from some of my other Posts, I'm pretty disgusted with Congress right now, but fair is fair and facts are facts.

And here they are:

Congresspersons DO pay into Social Security - just like most of us, they pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.

Congress does NOT vote to give themselves a pay raise. Under current law, pay increases are determined by a cost-of-living formula, and they take effect automatically, unless Congress votes to stop them. And in fact, that’s what has happened for the past two years - Congress denied itself any pay raise in 2010 and in 2011. 

Congress is NOT exempt from the new Health Care Law. Members of Congress have the same health insurance options as millions of other federal employees and retirees and their families.

Congresspersons are NOT entitled to retirement benefits after only two years of service. They receive retirement and health benefits under the same plans available to other federal employees. 

• They become vested after five years of full participation. 
• Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Those elected prior to 1984 were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In 1984 all members were given the option of remaining with CSRS or switching to FERS.
• Members of Congress who have completed 5 years of service are eligible for a pension when they reach the age of 62
• Members of Congress who have completed 20 years of service are eligible for a pension when they reach the age of 50
• Members of Congress who have completed 25 years of service are eligible for a pension at any age
• The amount of a Congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.
• According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.

SOURCES

• http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm
• http://factcheck.org/2011/03/congressional-reform-act/