Lawmakers' pay will be frozen at $165,200 for this year in the dispute, in which Democrats violated a yearslong understanding that the competing parties would not use the pay raise issue in campaign ads.
Under the annual COLA, lawmakers automatically get a pay hike unless Congress votes to block it. Hoyer and GOP leaders such as Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., made sure to smooth over any potential obstacles to the pay hike.
Typically, the annual vote on the pay hike came on an obscure procedural move _ instead of a direct up-or-down vote _ and the Democratic and GOP whips each delivered a roughly equal number of votes to shut off any move to block the pay hike.
Blunt said Democrats broke the agreement last year after the pay raise-related vote had already taken place. In a 263-152 vote in June, the House blocked a bid by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to force an up- or-down vote on the pay raise.
"The agreement always was that the parties would not use the COLA issue in the campaign," Blunt said. "It was as formal as anything not signed is."
Under the congressional pay raise law enacted in 1989, lawmakers won a big pay raise in exchange for giving up honoraria for personal gain. The COLA was born as part of the reforms, but it also had the political benefit of freeing lawmakers from having to vote on pay hikes.
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If you have ever visited a nursing home, you know that housekeeping (usually) does the best that they can. You can still get the degree you want, and you don't even have to leave your home to do it! They need special care because of their conditions so its just right to have an expert to take care of them or else lawsuits will be filed against them in the process. - The Median Income of nursing aides in 2009 was $24,980** A nurse not only gets the opportunity to serve people with care, but they even earn the possibilities of getting to work with some of the famous and expert doctors.
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