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February 22, 2013

Mullin votes to stop automatic across-the-board pay increases





On Feb. 15, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 273, a bill that would eliminate the 2013 statutory pay increase for Congress, the Executive Branch and other federal employees. The bill passed with a vote of 261 to 154.

H.R. 273 is a direct response to an Executive Order issued by President Obama on Dec. 27, 2012, that provided automatic across-the-board pay raises for federal civilian employees. The order would  raise the salaries of the Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries and other federal employees by 0.5 percent.

“The President’s action from late last year is an example of how out of touch he is with reality and how he has lost sight of the big picture,” Mullin said. “With $16 trillion of debt, we need to be looking for ways to cut government spending, not increase it.”

H.R. 273 was sponsored by Rep. Ron DeSantis (FL-06) and was cosponsored by Rep. Markwayne Mullin and other legislators. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) preliminary report estimated that the bill’s effect would decrease spending by $11.9 billion over 10 years.

“The federal government spends $1 trillion more than it takes in each year, the President has failed to submit his budget on time for the fourth time in the last five years and we recently learned that the economy shrank for the first time in more than three years.” Mullin added. “It is frustrating for Oklahomans who have to make sacrifices and live within a budget to watch their federal government spend money as if it is an unlimited resource.”

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