the legislative branch: the next billion dollar bureaucracy · the legislative branch: the next...
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The Legislative Branch :The Next Billion Dollar Bureaucracy
TAX FOUNDATION, INC.50 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N .Y . 10020
M
Gmvrn=wt Faanx Brief Na 2May 19?b
Price 51 .00 Per Copy
TAX t=O :i.%D.% IOX INC.
This analysis of Legislative Branch operations and costs wascom-pleted prior to the recent events which have resulted in efforts in th eHouse of Representatives to adopt procedural and other reform srelating to the provision of certain allowances and perquisites avail -able to its Members . The sections which deal with these allowancesand the methods by which they have been provided, therefore . donot reflect these recent devclopmcias.
Even as this study was on the press the final form and substanc eof these reforms had not been determined . The recommcadationsunder consideration appear to be directed toward consolidation o fcertain aliow~, nces . improved accountability . and elimination of th eprivilege of members to withdraw certain of the allowances in cash .Until the filial form of these changes is known. their impact cannotbe assessed . although it would appear that they will not significant)} 'affect the total cost of Congressional operations.
Foreword
In recent years the Tax Foundation haspublished a series of research studie sfocused upon Federal govctnmcnt pro -grams and policies and their cost im-plications_ Among these studic-s were:Growilz Trends of Year Federal Pro-grarns (1967): Federal Gri ian f.;niphir-nrent. Pai: artd &-nrtirs (1969): FederalTreat Funds (1970) . Recent Fellers!Peru,rutel t osr Trends i 19"a): and t ir-controdfahle Federal Iku tget Outlasx(197{). These anahses dealt with mattersinvolving both keisiative decisions an dExecutive Branch policy and its adminis-tration.
This analvbis deals exclusively with theoperations of the Legislative Branch—the Congress and those agencies whichserve or are accountable to it . The opera-tine costs of the Lcgislattve Branch haveincreased significantly in recent years andare certain within a year or two to reachan annual level of SI billion or morc_These costs doubled lictween 1960 and1970 and have further increased almos tthree-fold since 19'0. to about 5925 mil-lion in the current year.
Almost half of the 19"6 total (46 per-c-_-no is for direct operations of theCongress S426 million . as compared t oS17 ; million in 1970. This represents a nincrease over this period of 1 .36 percent :total budget outlays rose by 90 percent i nthe same period . A substantial part of thetotal is for staff salaries which . as theanalysis demonstrates, are high by almos tany standard .
Budget requests of Executive Branc hagencies are scrutinUcd in detail an drevised by the Congress . However . Con-1;ress establishes its own budget . sets its
own staff levels. pay scales. allowances.ctc_ In large part this is done by adoptio nof simple resolutions or committee edict .not subicct to review or approval by theExecutive. Moreover. the methods bywhich these perquisites of office arcprovided often permi : Members ofCongress greater flexibility and dis-cretion in the use of appropriated fundsthan is granted to other Fcdera_aecncics .
The recent growth of the keislativeburcaucracy and its rapidly increasin gcost have been the tarect of criticism .even within sonic congressional circI :s_This analcsis reviews this growth and .while providing an overview of the entir eLegislative Branch . focuses primarilyupon the operations of the Congress. itsstaffing and pad- policies. the benefits.allowances. and special scniccs availabl eto Members. and other rckvan: matters.
Maynard H_ Waterfield . Director ofFederal Affairs. had primary responsi-bility for the research and preparation ofthis report .
The Tax Foundation is a publicly sup-ported . non-profit organization . foundedin 19.7 to engage in non-partisan re-search and public education on the fisca land management aspects of government .Its purpose . characterized by the mott o"Toward Better Govcrnmcnt ThroughCitizen Understanding.- is to aid in thedevctopmcnt of more efficient and cco-nomica) government . It serves as a na-tional information agency for individual sand organizations concerned wit hproblems of government expenditures.taxation. and debt .
Tax Foundation . Inc .May 1976
3
Page
_
Recent Growth • 8Legislative Branch Employment 9
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II_ CONGRESS : PAY AND STAFFING POLICIES 10
Recent Pav Increase 1 0MembersPay • . . . . . . . . . .
I IStaffing Policies and Pay 1 1MemberStaff Allowances 1 2Committee Staff Structure 1 3Perspectives on Staffing 14
III_ CONGRESS: BENEFITS AND ALLOWANCES 1 6
Retirement System 1 7Tax Deductions 1 7Allowances 18
IV. CONGRESS:SPECIALSERVICES 20
=
Y. PERSPECTIVES 2 1
List of Tables
TABLE Page! _ Summa:
ofAppropriations for the Lcg ;slativc Branch 8
2 . Legislative Branch Emplo- mcnt 9
APPENDIX TABLESA-l . Appropriations for Major Agencies within th e
Legislative Branch 24
•
A-2 . Appropriations for Operations of the Senate 25
A-3 . Appropriations for Operations of th eHouse of Representatives 26
A4. Appropriations for Joint Activities of the Congress 27
5
IINOTE
Bears mentions 1 in this text . unless other%ise indicated. refer tothe Federal fiscal vear_ Fiscal rear 1976 began July 1 . 1975 and end sJune 30. 1976 . Under provisions of the Congressional Budget an dImpoundment Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-344) the fisca l}ear is changed to run from October 1 through September 30 of th efollowing )ear. effective %ith respect to fiscal 1977_ Federal govern -ment operations for a July 1—September 30. 1976 "transitio nquarter" are being funded by separate appropriations.
1 . Overview
The Legislative Branch of the Federa lgovernment consists of the Congress, a swell as several agencies which serve an dor are accountable to Congress_ Theseinclude the following:
The Architecr of- the Capirol who.acting as an agent of Congress. hascharge of the structural and maintenanc ecare of the Capitol Buildingand grounds.the House and Senate Office Buildingsand related facilities, the Library of Con-gress buildings . U.S_ Supreme Courtbuilding, the Capitol Power Plant (whic hprovides heat and air conditioning forthose and other nearby governmen tbuildings). and operation of the Senater+ staurant _
The United States Botanic Garden (ofwhich the Architect of the Capitol hasserved as acting director since 1934) .which collects, cultivates, and growsvarious plants of the United States andothercountries for exhibitic n and display
= to the public . and for study by students .scientists, and garden clubs, and whichprovides plants for congressional offices .
The General Accounting Offitce. whichprovides assistance to Congress . its com-mittees and Members, in connection withtheir oversight responsibilities ; carriesout legal . accounting, auditing, andclaims settlement functions with respectto Federal programs and operations asassigned by Congress: makes studies andrecommendations designed to increasethe efficiency and effectiveness of govern-ment operations ; and supervises politica lcampaign financing and reporting unde rthe Federal Election Campaign Act o f1971 .
The Government Printing Office(operating under the supervision of th econgressional Joint Committee on Print-ing) executes orders for printing an dbinding placed by Congress and th edepartments and agencies of the govern-
ment; provides paper, ink . and simila rsupplies for governmental activities o norder, prepares catalogs: and distributesand sells government publications.
The Library- of Congress, whose firstresponsibility is service to the Congress .but which also maintains extensive col-lections on almost every subject invarious languages: operates 16 readingrooms for use of the general public :provides some reference services whereto do so does not conflict with the rc-quiremcnts of Congress and othe rbranches of the government: acquiresand catalogs books and materials pub-lished all over the world: operates a ninterlibrary loan service ; and is responsi-ble for copyrighting-
The Cost .-1ecounti kz StandardsBuarcl, chaired by the Comptroller Gen-eral of the United States, promulgatescost accounting standards designed t oachieve uniformity and consistency i ncost accounting principles followed bydefense contractors and subcontractorsunder Federal contracts .
The Qllt'ce t)I'Techtrofog%- .4sse-csnretrt .established in 1972. which provides as-sessments for congressional committeesof the beneficial or adverse impacts o ftechnologies, together with analyses o falternatives .
The Ccitt ;rrecsional Buttget office .established under the Congressiona lBudget and Impoundment Control Ac tof 1974, and which became operative i nF=ebruary 1975, provides assistance an dinformation to the House and Senat eBudget Committees, Appropriation sCommittees, House Ways and Mean sand Senate Finance Committees, an dother committees and joint committee sof the Congress, as well as individua lmembers, with respect to the budget ,appropriation and authori/ation bills .Federal revenues, budget scorckccping,
and such related matters as the com-mitters or Congress may request .
Recent Growt h
The Legislative Branch has expande dsignificantly in recent years in both sizeand cost. The last three . rclativcIy smallagencies Iisted above have been estab-lished since 1970. but most of the in -creased costs reflect the substantia lgrowth of Legislative Branch cmplot-ment as well as significant increases i nsalaries and other costs . LegislativeBranch costs increased between 1970 and1976 by 168 percent: over the same
period . by way of comparison . totalFederal budget outlays rose 90 percent .and national defense outlays by only 1 7
percent .
1960. more than doubled by 1970 (to5345 million). and for 1976 approachS925 million . almost 3 times the 1970total . Within these totals the amountprovided for direct operations of theCongress rose from S72 million in 1960 t o
S 173 million in 1970. and will exceed 5426million in the current rear—an increas e
of 146 percent since 1970.
Additional appropratio ps for the
Legislative Branch of more than 521 7million (including about S100 million forcongressional operations) have bee nprodded for this rear's July 1-Septem-
her30.1976-transition quarter" require dbv the change in the fiscal rear.
Table i sets forth the summary totalsof appropriations for operations of th e
Appropriations for the Legislative Legislative Branch for 1960, 1970, an d
Branch amounted to 5171 million in 1976.
Table 1Summary of Appropriations for the Legislative Branc h
Fiscal Years 1960. 1970, 1976
Act : :st
Estmatsd1960
1970
1976'
.
Congress:Senate $ 26.105.130
5 54 .813.126
$127.359.47 5HouseofRepresentatives 42.148.020
105.003.689
227 .492 .48 5JointactivlUes 3.772.885
13 .233 .322
71 .419 .278
Subtotal . Congress 72 .026.035
173 .050 .137
426.271 .23 8
Legislative agencies:ArchitectoftheCapitol 27.412 .900 24 .383 .100 74 .479.100Botanic Garden 327 .500 599.800 1 .205.000Congressional Budget Offt, :a — — 4 .736.340Cost-Accounting Standards Board — — 1 .635 .000General AccountingOffice 41 .800.000 63 .499.000 137 .222 .000Government Printing Off ice 15.020.350 39 .950.000 147 .069 .70 0Library ofCongress 14,302 .790 43 .856 .300 116.843 .40 0Off ice of Technology Assessment — — 6.485 .000Pay increase supplemental — — 8.576.000
Subtotal . Legislative Agencies 98 .863 .540 172 .288 .200 498 .251 .540
TOTAL . LEGISLATIVE BRANCH $170.889.575 $345.338.337 $924 .522 .778
1n-'.1t~ ;CS fur•+1s a ..h :a^t ie••.~ :;fe.f 1rt tfale (!us prrxlna s+r L :+'en te rr ia' re:7• :w1c. K*~rnat+ ;, i;+rusts rt Q:tr,ter 197h fat ~ncreas ~soutce rC;tftal lt ::'1RP!ft-.'n:unlPrtts . LPRK~d!bPllran'h ii i. : ;'u(a 01!•.111 nCt i'e7r, lr5lt:I - I .lh 9v fl`I') SupL'entrnLN i+(l ;.rc;.riat+i n
A•,t .197tiIF'r, +c taryi I511.anAlkx:seRe~cutl~ 1027.rnHR 131%:. •r>]++fYSc~ :aul5u ;genxntalAppr+pe+ata nME 197 6
8
It should be pointed out that in ad-ditian to the more than S426 millio nprovided for the current year for directoperations of the Congress . significantamounts of the funds appropriated for
f
- 1 • "-1 -
-B
h
Congress totals about. 5630 million forthe current year.
Detailed amounts appropriated fo rthe major agencies within the Legislativ eBranch . for 1960- 1970 . and 1976. arc set
M i r-ratlons o vanous _sets at t-v ranc
forth in Appendix: Tablc A-f .agencies also reflect costs of dime serv-ices provided to or mandated by the Legislative Branch Employmen tCot :gress_ Thrsc include : approximately
-S32 m: .;ion for the Architect of the Cani-
As of December 31 . 1975 . according to = - _
tot for improvement and maintenance of data provided by the U.S. Civil Serv icethe Capitol 2nd Hcuse and Scrate Office Commission. employment by LegislativeBuildings; an estimated S60 million by Branch agencies totaled 37.303_ That
_
the General Accouz:ing Office:' morethan $85 million by the Goierntncrl tPrinting Office for printing and bindin gorders by Congress ; approximately S1 7million for salaries and expenses of theCongressional Research Service . Libraryof Congress ; 56 .5 million for the Officeof Technology Assessment ; and the cos t
Table 2Legislative Branch Employment, 1970 and 1975
AgenelJune1970
Wcember1975 :
ChangeNumber Percent
Congress 11 .815 17 .039 + 5.224 + 44 .2Architect of the Capitol 1 .631 2 .036 +
405 + 24 .8BotanlcGarden 67 62 -
5 -
7. 5Cost-Accounting Standards Board — 40 +
40 —General Accounting Office 4,631 4 .897 +
266 +
5 . 7Government Printing Office 8.557 8.444 -
113 -
1 . 4Library of Congress 3 .848 4,785 +
937 + 24 . 3TOTAL . LEGISLATIVE BRANCH 30.549 37.303 + 6 .7 15 .4 + 22 . 1
+ fa~a+ :4eSatxutf±lemp:~}ee;q!thCO!1~7eCd Te".hsa' :gr AS<.e; ;n :e+tt .+~ .:r eO:e e:t
1Lyfile (, .~tSr,c, .;ef .-nm~;;~r!+AT,--,,I• e4are entpl .;yeeaif tr:eFe. .̂Crdl Eie.:1~~n C..in!nIrSSU7n.tlatwndl$tufly Clxnm4iusn(onYldtetQtlald'yJ, and lheU .S TaxUutt.rncludedin the CSC tatmiat :rn his Te1:hmLa : reasen S
cixtr .:Y. Il S 0-ISery:'e CCmrn~ ;; 8n
1. Nated on (rAWs eshmam of manyrr reaourccs h-r dart axnur'e . wpN-rt --I the cnngretuonai hu-1gCt pnKCtt . ar 1 ptograrn tcuewsttquued h} the C-mgreseonal Budget and Imp.umdmCnt Control Act of 1974
2. 1here ue415 mrnil+eraof the ilou e .d Kepreunurna(Plat 4nnn•wungdQegatestramthethrtnctofcolum4% .GUAM . PuertoRica.AM the %'ttgtn Idandt). and 100 SCnalun
represe-nts an increase of more than 6 .750ctrtirlovices—or 2_-7 percent-since June
=30 . 1970.
More than three-fourths of that in-crease is for congressiona! staging . OnDecember 31 . 1975 congressiona lemployment (including Members )totaicd 17 .039 . This represents an in-
of the operations of the new Congres- crease of more than 5 .200 since 1970 (44 . 2sional Budget Office . about S6 million on percent) . The increase, of course. i san annual basis. Taking these items entirely in staff since the number ofinto account . the cost of Congressional Members remains constant .! The 17.039operations and direct services to the total employment figure includes 6 .351
9
Senate etnployces and 10.688 for th eHousc . IStaff of joint committees arepaid from the contingent funds of eithe rbody. and their employees are includedin the total for the body which fundsthem . )
Table 2 sets forth data on employmen tin the maior agencies within the Legis-lative Branch . as of June 30 . 1970 andDecember 31 . 1975 . and indicates th echange over that period . in both numbersand percent . by agency--
A substantial portion of the increasedemployment in certain of the LegislativeBranch agencies. particularly the General
Acc~__ianti ng Office and Library aE Con-gress . is due to added responsibilities Curproviding direct scryiees to the Congrc+s_I-or example . the Congressional Re -search Service in the Library employed323 peopic in 1970 . The Legislative Rc-organiT!! :on Act of that year assignednew responsibilities to the CRS_ and itwas estimated its staff would have to betripled within lice years to carry out th eadded duties. By the end of fiscal year1976 it is estimated CRS will have nearl y800 employres---less than contemplatedby the 1970 act but stilt a substantial partof the increase in tond Library- employ-ment since 1970-
11. Congress : Pay and Staffing Policies
Appendix Tables A-2. A-3 . and A4provide the background for the discus-sion of the operating costs and policies o fthe Congress in this and the followingsections of this analysis . Thev set fort h
-
the amounts thus far appropriated fo r_ 1976 to coyer the cost of salaries and
other expenses involved in the directoperations of the Senate . House ofRepresentatives . and joint activities : theyalso include the comparable amounts fo r1960 and 1970. to idcntifv the areas o frecent increases in these costs . Thes etables reflect . in general . the breakdownof funds provided for congressiona loperations in the annual LegislativeBranch appropriation acts . They do not .however, pinpoint many of the detail sdiscussed here dealing with salary levels.staffing policies, allowances, specialservices, etc .
As previously noted . appropriationsthus far provided for 1976 for congres-sional operations total more than $42 6million--$127 .4 million for the Senate .$227 .5 million for the blouse of Repre-
sentatives . and 571 .4 million for jointactivities. This is almost 2'V2 times th e$173 million required in 1970. whenSenate costs totaled 554 .8 million . Housecosts S105 million . and appropriation sfor joint activities amounted to S13.2million .
More than half of congressional oper-ating costs in 1976 -about 5240 millio nwill be for salaries and related expense sfor members and their staffs, and leader-ship offices : in 1970 the comparable tota lwas approximately 5120 million . Thi sincrease for salaries and related expense sreflects not only the 44 percent increasein the number of employees since 197 0(Table 2 . Section 1), but also significan tincreases in salary levels.
Recent Pay Increase
The most recent salary increase fo rMembers of Congress, congressiona lofficials . and member and committee.staffs became effective in October 1975 .as a result of legislation enacted the pre -
10 . .
n
vious :August .' That legislation providedthat Members and coneression=il cm-plovecs (as well as other top-level official sof the Executive and Judicial Branches )receive the same annual -comparability'"pay adjustments provided forcivil serviceemploye of the government, under theFederal Salary Reform Act of 1962 an drelated statutes_
Thc increase originally recommende dto the President was 8 .66 percents How-ever, he proposed the raise be held to 5percent and the Congress, obviouslyconcerned over possible public reaction _agreed to the lower figure_ In p :cviou s-}Pars Presidential efforts to limit or post -pone such increases for civil servant swere usually overridden by Congress .
While Member' pay was last increasedin 1969. congressional employees coul dand usually did receive salary increasesgenerally in line with those given Federa lemployees under the "comparability-
process, at the discretion of Congress .
Members' Pay
With the October increase the annua lsalary of the Speaker of the House rosefrom $62,500 to 565,600 ; that of the
=Senate President pro tempore and theMajority and Minority Leaders of theHouse and Senate from 549,500 to552,000 ; and a Members Salary wen tfrom 542,500 to $44,600. 5
In i960 Members of Congress werecompensated at the rate of S22,500 perannum. A 1964 statute raised their pay t o530,000, and in 1969, based on the recom-mendations of the first quadrennial Com-mission on Executive, Legislative, and
Judicial Salaries, established under theFederal Salary Act of 1967, their pay wa_sraised to 542.500. The report of a secondcommission was delayed . and as a result .there had been no change in the pa ve leve lof Members of Congress since 1969_
In 1973 legislation was passed by th eSenate to provide for a biennial rathe rthan quadrennial review of Executive .Legislative, and Judicial salaries. Thepractical effect of this would have beento provide for consideration of such pa yadjustments in non-clection gars . Thislegislation, however. failed to gain ap-proval of the House.
Up to 1969 Congress had adjustedMember salaries either through direc tlegislation or on the basis of Presidentia lrecommendation based upon findings ofthe quadrennial commissions referred t oabove. The legislation adopted lastAugust, however, will in effect provid eopportunity for automatic pay adjust-ments for Members of Congress when-ever "comparability" adjustments arerecommended for government employ-ees . Presumably, the quadrennial payreview called for in the Federal SalaryAct of 1967 also remains in effect .
Staffing Policies and Pay
Staffing and pay policies and struc-tures of the Senate and House of Repre-sentatives differ somewhat . Each estab-lishes its own staff and pay levels . I nacting on the annual appropriation bil lfor the Legislative Branch. each bod yinserts the amounts for its operations an drarely, if ever, are these amounts disputedby the other body.
3 f se vti+e Satan Co+tti)f•Inmg Adjustment Act . Title II of Puhlw hw 94-8:, craned Augu+t 9. 1971,
4. Rec . .mmgmled by the Ihrector of the office of Managernent and Budget and Chairman of the I' % ( end ticnke ('omm .a)nn luting a sthe Prc+rlcnl•+a n nt I. based on the 1975 National Sung) of Profesuonal. Admmtstralot, Techntcal.andCkttcal Pa) I lIAT('lcondu0C dIn the 1' % Bureau of IaM)r Statics %
5. SalatK of the Congrc s+ .onal oftuera am. Memher amt aomtndtee call aufc% were alas adi-InI pn.portioratel) for 'sample to the
%enate the u4nea .d the %wetary of the Senate, Sergeant at Arm+d)..orkccper . amI I cg.slatise ('oun+cl rase f rom S*IJXX) to $42 .(00). theliftretam I .,r the Malanh aml%I monty each went (romS14.44aI to441 . 440), the Parfumrntarunfrom SicI0a)to 441 INaI, a m f t he r % . -
-mum for top member aml committee staff ante. waum )cased from SANA011 III St9.910), the+aiar .n al the (lerh of the ll. .u .e . Sctgcanl atArm., and It.-Aceper each went Itom "010) to S47JI>t), that of the liml.amentarmn (r. .rrt 44: .19: to y14. k0), the maximum on aMember's su(r ruse from 531,575 to 537,400, and that for top committee staff assimnts from 136.000 to SAW.
Congressional staff salary kveIs ar ehirh by aImoat anv standard- lbeauthor-ired salaries for tell-klYl Member andcommitter staff aides, for example . arenow subsuntialit above the SA000salary received by Members of Congress
< reccrt ly as 19(*_ a Capit«t Hill publi-cation reported in July 1975 that theaverage salaries of House and Senateemployees >urpa_-;,.; the national percapita income of 55.041 by nearly threeto one 3 It estimated the avera ge incomeof Senate emploiees at that timeat aboutSI5.(100. and the House average at closeto SI 1.000_ With salaries of %knibers o ftop-kvcl committer staffers added in.that report continues. `the per capita In -
come climbs into the hieh teens_ close t oS'_t1 .00th- These fi_ure+ do not take int oaccount the (k-tober 19?5 pad- increase_
The Tax Foundations own analysis ofcongressional payroll information. as o fUectmber 3I . 1974. indicated that abou t7 pcmrnt of employers then on the rollswere paid S10.000or more per annum. B yway of comparison. about 3 percrnt ofthe full-time Federal agency employeescovered tender the civil srrvicr Genera lSchedule. the largest of the tarczr>rrvix
=
pay systems. were N id S3tl.tiilU or more. _
The rules ol. the House tit Reprrsenta-tit :-s require Ihat tiandin ,_ select . andjoint con .ntitiees Iundcti ixy the I1t:usefile sent"-annual renurts €istin u, the names _teositions . and salaries of all committerenipiovices . I hesr listings are printed inthe C ;7tt ,,ret%ronal Re ord. fire mostrecent reports . ca%,rring the 6-monthperiod endi n g IXcenihn-r 31 . 19?5_ re%ca lthat as of that dat : these committees andtheir subcommittees had 1 .79tt em-plo%er, . 01 this total 33,X -about I in -';were paid at an annual rate ut S3U.bW ormore .
:Member Stag 41111ousaces
Appropriations for the salaries ofadministrative. clerical . and legislativeassisunts of United States Senators fo r19:6 total more than $49 million to date.the comparable 1970 total was under S2 5million_
The staff allowarce of each Senator i sdetermined undera formula based on thepopulation of t rc --ate he reprrents .under the latest such formula. set forthin the Legislative Appropriation act of19-76. the individual Senators basic an-nual staff allowance ranters from5392—M for Senators from states withless than 2XV.000 population to5802120 for th%c from states withpopulation in exccss of '_1 .1100-000(again . without taking account of last(ktober s pay increase). Within this basisallowance- there is no specific limit on thenumber of rersotu a Senator tray employin his office-: however. there are certai nlimits on s: ►an- kvc6-with the maximum(following the Mtobcr raise) now set a tS39.900.
in addition. undera provision includedin the 1976 keislati , canc-ach Senator ix entitled to hire up to threestaff assistants to assist with committe eand lcroslativr duties. bawd on the num-ber of committer% t7tt which he xr\v-,_ ata maximum annual salan (includin g: therecent pay increase) of S35_71M each . It i s
likely that this provision wIII net hr usedbt 4nators who scree as committerchairmen or rankin g_ minority numbers .since they already have additional staf favailable .
It should also be noted ths : not ai lSenators utilize the full basic Membe rstaff allowance made available . or patthe maximum allowable salary. Testi-
a-
7. <rr,rG .n rrwri~ d tie Sn:eeart t t
mono in 1975 before a Senate Appropri-ations subcommittee indicated that 34Senators turned back mire than I0 per-cent of their staff allowance in 1974 :however. 19 of these were full com-mittee chairmen or ranking minoritymembers ,who qualify for additional staffassistance by virtue of their committeeleadership roles S
In the House the maximum clerk hir eallowance a%ailabk to each Mcmbcr wasS22741M. prior to the most recent payincrease_ Under this allowance eachMember may hire up to IS staff person-nel. with the maximum salary paid toan yone staff membercurrentl set at S-17-400.(The Delegates from Guam and theVirgin Islands are authorized 60 percen tof this clerk hire allowance. for emplo_c-ment of I I staff assistants . )
again . as in the Senate. not all Mem-bers utilize their full clerk hire allowanc eor employ the maximum number of staff.Testimony presented last dear by theClerk of the House indicated that as o fthe end of January 1975 the averageannual payroll and average number o femplo~,.r!s in Member offices were belo wthe maximums authorized. but alsonoted that more than 30 percent cm-ployed personnel earning 525.000 o rmore. M
In the Senate. in general . Nfcmbcr staffallowances and pay levels are set either b ystatute or by adoption of specific resolu-tions. usually upon the recommendatio nof the Committee on Rules and Adminis -tration. In the House. however, under aprocedure adopted in 1972. the clerk hireallowance, staff limitations . and otherallowances subsequently discussed here -in . may be adjusted by order of the Com-mitice on House Administration." The
committee orders must be published i nthe Outgressutaraf Redd{ but do notreuuirc affirmative House action_ Underthis procedure. for example. the clerkhire authorization for Members was in-crrased in 1973 and attain in 1975. andthe maximum number of employees inMember offices was raised from 16 to I Sin 1975- without specific action by th eHouses
Committee Staff StnrctWe
Funds provided in the LegislativeAppropriation Act for 19-6 for thesalaries and related expenses of conues-sional committer employees (includin gjoint committees) totaled approximatelyS76 million. This total breaks down asfollows: Senate. 527.7 million (comparedto SI0.7 million in 1970) : House. 543. 5million (197O total. SO million). jointcommittees. 54.4 million (compared t oS1.8 million in 1970)_ These totals havebeen incensed by supplemental ap-propriations to covercosts of the (k-tobe r1975 pay increases (which are included inlump sums in the tabulations appearingin the appendix).
Some background on the congncs-sional committee structure is of interest .The Legislative Reorganization Act ofI946 ! Public Law 70-601) reduced thenumber of standin g committees the noperating from 47 to 19 in the Housc . andin the Scnate from 33 to 15 . Talc numberof standing committees has not b«:n in-crcase~ significantly since: there are now22 in the House and 18 in the Senate .What has occurred. however. has been atremendous proliferation of subcom-mittecs : currently there arc 130 operatingsubcommittees in the Senate and morethan 140 in the House, many of which
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11 . ttoat ltcaat:roa ♦St (92nd Caaytss. SaoaS Sawa) cad PObk ris 92•I6t.
13
employ staffs significantly larger tha nthose of the standiagcommittccs . = Therearc also 6 joint committees and 9 selector special committees (6 in the ,Scrtate_ 3in the House)-
The funding of committec staffs in theSenate and House. as reflected in Ap-pendix Tables A-2 and A-3 requires someexplanation_ The SN9 million Senat eappropriation for 1976 under the hcadin g"Commiticc Emploved' provides forthe staffi ng of standine committees andthe Select Committee on Small Business-The "basic standing committees staffallocation 'not including the Octobe r1975 par irwixasel is S.' 155 .N66 . for I :cm-pio%ees . Howcver.forccrtaincommittecsadditional staff members arc authorized.or subcommittee staff allowances arcincluded. Additionally. the Senate Ap-propriations Committer is provided asubstantially lareer allowance and i sauthorized to employ "any numbcr' o fprofes.sional staffers. assistant ckrla. andclerical assistants at specified salary_levels_ The current riling^ on Senatecommitter staff salaries_ as alreadynoted. is S39.9M.
The appropriation referred to in thepreceding paragraph does not coyer thecosts of staffing most Senate subcom-mittecs and special investigating units.'these are financed largely by an ap-propriation from the contingent fundof the Senate totaling Slb' million for1976 for "Inquiries acid Investigations-(Appendix Table A-2). Whii: certainrelated expenses arc paid from thisappropriation, it is primarily used fo rsubcommittee and investigating cum-mittcc salaries.
The 1976 House appropriation foreommittcc employees (standing com-mittees) is 520 .5 million ( .Appendix TableA-3) : this compares with S5 .3 million for
1970 and represents an increase ofalmostS9 million over 1975_ The increase ove r1975 is attributable primarily to th-committee reforms adopted in W -(H_ Res. 988). which authorized an in-crease in the number of positions wmii-able to standing committers. from 12 to=0.
The House provides a, scparatc fundingfor its Committer on Appropriations.S'1 3 million for 1976_ also provided fromcontingent funds of the House to date.for 1976 . is a total of S20- million for"Special and Select Committers' (com-pared to S69 million in 1970)_ like theSenate- mast subcommittee staff salariesarc paid from this latter fund .
Staff expenses of the scveral operatingjoint committees- which total S4 .4 millionfor 1976 (the comparable 1970 total.SI_b million) are paid for out of thecontingent funds of the House andSenate (Appendix Table A4) _
Perspectives on Staffing
The Con_aresx in recent -vears haserratcd several new agencies and facili-ties. and expanded other existing ernes.for the express purpose of providingmore and better information andsmitesto assist it in carrvine out its legislativeresponsibilities . The Lcgssiativr Rc-organization Act of 19'0 provided for abuild-up of the staff of the Congressiona lResearch Scrvicc of the Lihrary of Con-gress, and the General AccountingOffice: in 1972 the Office of TechnologyAssessment was established : and theCongressional Budget and Impound-ment Control act of 1974 created theCongressional Budget Office .
Yet . over the same period Congress hasalso increased its own staff by almost _' 0percent: both committee and Membe rstaffs have been enlarged, in its report o n
, i« ise .
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14
Legislative Branch appropri- pcopk. Members have raised questionsthe House Appropriations as to the possibilities for duplication o fvoiced concern over this effort by the CBO and Budget Committer
ing: staffs. as well as with the Joint Economi cMembers of the Ctxt:. .._ttcc havr Committer . General _Accounting Off-tee
--teasing concern over the increase in and the Congressional Research Ser%icc .
the 1476ation bil lCommitstctrend. stat
-T,tcinthe number of coneressionxl com-nittccs.acenc-im and corrmtissumss created i nrecent orate: aWng with the additionalr~cummes that have been rack a ,ail;bk-to cxis:ing Activities Ihat arc sources 44c ngresmonai informati=on. In addittcxsthere is the lame irnzrase in sta:sdirzgctsmm:tter suffs referred ro abnc- Forexample. total authorized pers mrc1 forstand i n g rise L-tx— !M in1974 to (ON in 19-5. cxcluding theCommittecx on Approprati,xrs and th eBudgct whkh haic r.ai c_: t_ines or thentunbcr of crnplo~ccs that~ may beemplovrd_ Spcc-ial and scka-i commiuccstaffs !aic incr~sed from- 4N5 in 19-1 a%M6 in t974_ and based on fundingresk4utiom passed by the Home recntl 4willbe ctmtsidcrab1v larecr in f9'. i --- TheCormittee is, concriwd oicr theioluminots tmicrials that arc beinerrncrated and will c,,mtrnuc to gross asmore and more studies arAI rclkuts arcmade by these new and expanded .aat1Tics_ xhich may scnc tn.xc toconfuse than assize the Members ofC aMgercas . As new ar.m- cs arc createdand old arcs Crow. controll oicr a+ thecffc%-tivc use o) staff bccor :xs rr,sicdifft,uh. ~s ucll as being a potcntial forovcriapping ;urisdicticsrts."
The Congress sometimes displays thesame propensity fur growth that exists inothcrguvcrnmentagencies . Forcxample.the original proposals for reform o fcongrdsiunal budgclary proceduresenvisioned a joint staff to service th eHouse and Senate Bridget Committers .The final version instead c-stabiished th enew Congressional Budget Office. whichbecame operative in February 1975 . Asof Jute 1975 CBO %a% prc>_iccting a staff-ing Icycl of 259 by January 19'6 . (Con-ga:, has currently limited CBO to 19;employee%.) At the saute tine the tw oBudget Committed have been buildin gsizeable staffs of their own : as of late1975 each employed more than Ill
In addition to the creation of newagencies and enlargement of committerstaffs. the staffs in Member offices als ohave inc.rancd- A rather cursor ex-amination of the semis-annual reports ofthe Sca-rctary of the Senate and Clerk ofthe House of Representatives suggeststhat. as of December 19-4. the ratio ofMember staff to committee personnel i nthe Senate was on the order of ± to Landin the House as much as 5 to I _
The significance of this compariso nbears explanation. The legislative processfunctions through the committee struc-ture and. of course. legislating is theprimary respansibilita of the Con gress.Legislative oversight. also an importan tresponsibility. is also carried out throughthe committer structure. While some ofthose employed in Members off-ices un-doubtedly work on kgislativr matters .it is well known that a very substantia lproportion of Member staff work isdevoted to constituent services. or casework" as it is sometimes called . Thiswork . obviousIv. is much more closelyattuned to the political fortunes of aMrtttber than to the legislative process.
An obvious result of the congressiona lstaff growth has been an increase in costs .not only for salaries and related expense sbut also for supplies . equipment . furnish-ings . and particularly office space .
There arc now three House and twoSenate office buildings . Plans fora fourthHouse office structure arc under dis-cussion, and the Senate will soon beginconstruction of a third building . In ad-dition . the House also occupies a forme rCapitol Hill hotel and has just taken ove rand refurbished a building formerly used
15
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.A move to take over a new building fixthe Library of Congress was seriouslyconsidered but recently abandoned . TheSenate also occupies the former Carrol lArms Hotel- as well as other office spaceadjacent to its regular office buildings.The Sergeant at arms of the Senate hasalso recently been authorized . subject t oapproval of the Rules and Admims- office space and overcrowding-
111. Congress: Benefits and Allowances
tration and Appropriations Committ rocs.to lease an additional property at a nannual rental of up to S* .; million.
'Ihc Capitol Building has al alk beenremaxickd in regent sears to make ad-ditional space available. and sonic Mcm-bers of Congress and committees arcassigned additional space there. Still.complaints continue about a shortage of
one of the most discussed and criti-cized aspects of congressional operationsis the rather imposing structure of benc-fim allowances. and special servicestrade available to Members. Criticscharge that many of the allowances .services, and facilitiesprovided have littleor no relationship to the legislativeresponsibilities of Members. that in effectthey are privileges aLcorded for the con-venience of the Meni.tcrs. and that . insome instances. they arc provided in amanner which permits `backdoor aug-mentation of their income .
Defenders of the system argue thatthese allowances and services arc neces-sary. They point to the impact of inflationand the nccessity for maintaining tworesidences. The trawl . communications ,equipment . district office and other ex-pcnsc allowances arc justified as nc-cc :-sary to the conduct of Mcmbcri officia lduties. and it is contended that withoutsuch allowances only the wealthy couldafford to seek scats in Congress .'-'
Whatever the merits of the arguments .there can be little doubt that publicit yand criticism directed at the growth ofsuch perquisites of office have con-tributcd to a loss of public esteem fa :. ;',T
institution of Con gress. Moreover. theyarc costly. For 1976 their cost (over andabove office space and staff providcd lwill total about S11- million . when of-ficial mail costs and the special serviceddiscussed in the nest section of thi sanai .sis arc included .
:lei in the case of staff allowances, thereare differences in the method by whichthese allowances arc provided . In theScnatc they arc usually authorized bylegislation or special resolutions. nor-mally upon the recommendation of theCommittee on Rules and Adminis-tration . In the House . under a resolutio nadopted in 19-1 and enacted into perma-nent law later that same vcar .-` the Com-mittee on House Administration i sauthorised to "fix and adiust" the variou sallowances available to Menibcrs . Unde rthis procedure the committee approva aresolution_. proyidingadjustments. whichmidst be published in the C oiki;res%ic :zzul
Record but do not require action by thefull House_ Fiore than'_') such adjust -
ments have been approved to date byaction of the Committee.
The remainder of this section identitiesthe carious beneiiu and allowancescurrently available . .
i ; Ls~;;drx is i;;r.y;s .a-•, .yc. "t. : 3G'e tE':►~ Iar tis I% %.
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16
Retirement Sistem
Senators and Representatives are, o fcours=% covered under the Federal em-plovec retirement system_ Their contri-butions and annuity payments arc .however. computed on a somewhatdifferent basis than those for othe rFederal employer;.. Under the provisionsofa 1969 Law. :& the Mciabercontributioninto the system is ' N percent of salary tascompared ;o
percent for consonaI employees and 7 percent for civi lservice emplo%ers). with a matchinggovernment contribution_
The retirement annuity is computed atthe rate of '-_ percent of a Memberssalary for the highest three years_ multi -plied by the vicars of service- with themaximum set at i:) percent of salary_Thus a Member with 32 years of service _under the 542.,5W satary Icv-cl in effectprior to the October 1975 pay increase.would be entitled to an annual annuity o fS_13,00t1_ Members tray also count mili-tary service and other Federal service.including prior employment as a con-gressional staff aide- with the benefit forsuch service computed at a slightly lowe rrate. Example: a Member who served 3terms in the House fb %vars). but ha dserved 14 years as administrative as-sistant to his prcdc`c-ssor. and with 4years of military" service_ who retire dfrom Conaress in January 1975_ woul dreceive an annua : annuity estimated inthe S21,000--5220M) range _
The recent pay increase. of course . wil laffect annuity levels . -In addition, th eautomatic cast-cif-Living increases (in-c: iding the controversial I percent "add -on" designed to compensate for the dela yin these adjustments) which urc provide dfor Federal civil service retirees alsoapply to congressional annuities.
S,rious concerns are currently- cx-
pressed a- . the rapidly increasing costsof Federal ret i rement benefits (and othe rFederal benefit payments) . largely re-sulting from these automatic escalators.One former Representative who retire din 1971% after Lit years of service in theHouse. plus 5 scars of military service.recently reported that his monthly an-nuity check had increased from abou t51.600 since January 19? 3 to more thanS2.100 by the end of cakndar 19`5—anannual increase of about 56.000- = °
Tax Deductions
Under present law a Members homefor tax purposes is his place of residencein the state or district represented. and heis entitled to an annual talc deduction upto S3.000 for `business expense" whileattending congressional sessions_
In recent years proposals to increasethis deduction have been considered, bu tnone has been given final approval_ Atone point it was proposed to increase theallowed deduction to S5.500_ At anotherpoint it was proposed to allow a perdie mdeduction of S44 for days of service inWashington (which would result in asmuch as 56,500 for 150 days of service)_
Under the Housc-approvcd Tax Re-form Act of 1975 MR. 10612, which wasbefore the Senate Finance Committee i nmid-IV6) the present 53,000 limitationwould be modified to limit the deductionsto an amount to be determined by theInternal Revenue Service . The IRS deter-mination would be made under "rules ofreasonableness:' taking into accountsuch factors as days away from home, thecost of living in Washington, andamounts normalcy allowed businessme nunder similar circumstances .
Another little-known and somewha tunusual tax "break" is apparently avail -able to %tcmbers, according to a July
IF 1%}_ I . .
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17
1975 press report."' although how many?Members take advantage of it is un-known_ Members traditionally rccciucfree cloth-bound sets of the Congres-sional Record for each annual sessio n(5 to Senators and 3 to Representatives) .to be used at their discretion . Accordingto this press report, some '.Members havedonated these bound volumes to li-braries, educational institutions . etc. .and claimed charitable deductions_ In-ternal Revenue Service sources con-firmed the practice had been ruled legal_
Allowances
For 1976 the amounts provided tofinance specific allowances (other tha nstaff) total about S17 million for Senatorsand almost S36 million for Repre-smatives. Most of these funds arecurrently carried in the annual Legis-lative Branch appropriation act as alump sum appropriation fur -miscel-laneous items "although estimates of thecost of the various allowances are con-tained in the :appropriations Committeeshearings and reports_ In certain instance sthis allows Members more flexibility inthe application of these funds. 19 Ad-ditional specific appropriations areprovided for official mail costs (discusse dbelow) and the special scniccscovcrcd i nthe following section .
It should be pointed out that not al lMembers of Congress use all of the al-lowances available to them each year- Asa general rule, where an individual Mcm -ber does not use the maximum allowanc eavailable the funds lapse and revert to th eTreasury . There arc, howcver t some ex-
ceptions to this rule, which ate noted i nthe following brief summation of theprincipal allowances available to Sena-tors and Representatives _
Srationert•_ Senators receive an annua lallowance ranging from 53 .6114 to S5,000,based on population of the state repre-sented_ Each House member currentl yreceives an annual allowance of S6.-aeIn the case of a Representative . anyunused portion of the annual allowanceis charged to the Member as taxableincome and carried over from Sear toSear_ When a House mc .nber retires or isdefeated, the balance of his stationeryaccount may be withdrawn by him i ncash- A report of the Clerk of the Housereleased in September 1975 reveals tha ta total of more than 5191000 was with-drawn last year by 77 former mcmbcrs .with payments ran ging from 523,600 toSI .W_ Thirteen of these former memberstrade withdrawals in excess of S5 .000 _= "
Trarel_ Senators (including staff) ar centitled to reimbursement for travel ex-pcnses for up to 44 round trips betweenWashington and the home state (40 tripsfor Senators from states of less than Illmillion population)_ The total reimburse-ment in anv fiscal rear is based upo nspecified mileage rates ranging from 1 4cents per mile for distances of less tha n375 miles to 7 cents per mile if the certi-fied distance is 3 .(lll!) miles or more . 22
House members are entitled to re-imbursement for one round trip betwee nWashington and their district per annua lsession at 20 cents per mite, plus 26 roun dtrips per session (or 52 per Congress) a t12 cents per mile . Provision is made- for
11 -A Tat MrcA s:S T trr C.~a{:ess:-+aa: Re:.s-G' ks %1w!w:
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1 8
reimbursement of actual costs if a com-mon carrier is utilized . Representativesmay claim a lump sum reimbursemen tof S2.250 per Congress in lieu of actualtransportation expenses.*3
State or District Offices. Senators areentitled to office space at not more thanthree locations in the state represented .If °suitable space is not available in pos toffices or other Federal buildings in th edesignated locations Senators may leaseor rent other space . Present law sets themaximums for space outside Federa lbuildin gs at 4 .800 square feet in stateswith less than 2 million population .ranging up to 8 .000 square feet if thepopulation is 17 million or more .==
For payment of rentals and other homeoffice expenses. such as telephone serv-ices and charges incurred for subscrip-tions to newspapers. magazines. period -.cats. or capping or similar scrvi--cs, eac hSenator is provided an allowance up t oS7.800 per year_= In addition, an aggre-gate basic allowance of S20,500 for furni -ture. equipment . and other officefurnishings is provided for each Senator.with this amount increased by 5540 fo reach 200 square feet of space allowed i nexcess of 4 .800 square feet25
Each member of the House of Repre-sentatives is aLo entitled to -suitabl edistrict office spzcc at not more than 3locations, to be secured by the Screcant-at-Arms. If space is unavailable in pos toffices or other f=ederal buildings a:Member is entitled to an allowance of u pto 5500 per month. In the event a Mcm-bcr certifies he is unable to obtain satis-factory space for 5500 per month th eCommittee on House Administratio nmay direct payment of rentals for space
not exceeding 1 .500 square feet at rates"not exceeding the highest applicable ratecharged Federal agencies in the district ,as established by regulations of tieGeneral Services Administration" Officeequipment, carpeting, and draperies fo rthese offices mag also be obtained at theexpense of the GSA?' House membersare also entitled to S500 per quarter forofficial expenses incurred outade theDistrict of Columbia zs
Postage_ Members, officers. and com-mittees of Congress. like other govern-n.ent officials and agencies . use franked(or free) mail for official purposes . forwhich appropriations are provided toreimburse the Postal Service_ In 1976 theappropriations for reimbursement o fofficial mail costs of Congress exceedS62 million .
In addition. each Senator is entitled toan annual allowance of V.740. and eachRepresentative S1,I40 for purchase ofpostage stamps .
Communications. Costs of a Senatorslocal and long distance telephone service ,telegrams. etc. . are paid from appropri-ated or contingent funds. Although ther ehas in the past been some limitation o nsuch costs. under the present procedure.long distance telephone and telegraphcosts arc included under a Senatoria lConsolidated Office Allowance accoun tsubject to some discretion uu the part o fthe individual member. Local (Washing-ton . D.C.) telephone service is paid froma separate appropriation, and provisio nis also made for such costs in home stateoffices, as previously noted .
In the House, by order of the Com-mittee on House Administration, fund s
:3 ('„~.ea-,L ;te rs: 1{.K~e A.*. ~z:,rrru :..a Ik.kr \.+ 19 . nasal \la+ .U. 1975 .
:i 1ryaLU .e lkaah Appr.+et:ai:.+a Acr, 19'4. RbUz 7A. 91 .371 .
:S \a kstaral A'~+r.geuta+aa ~I:i . 197:. Pn Nt 1.. 9:.1a a
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a . Car- .:acc tin Ihmu c Admnnaarars n Order No . 15, Dcccmbcr It. 1974.
19
arc provided to cover costs of installationand service charges for up to three tele-phone lines at each of three districtoffices. and Representatives are provide dwith an over-all allowance of 125.000`units" for official telephone calls . Me-grams. cablegrams. and radiograms ineach regular session . Such units can b eaccumulated up to a total of 250.01t). an dare transferable between the Washitimonand district offices- In some instances
provision is made for payment of a\FATS line--"
Provision is also made for a constitu-ent communication allowance for eac hHouse member . equivalent to the "fai rmarket value° of printingand productio ncosts of two 11 x 17 inch districtwid econstituent reports per year. Thcsc fund sstay be used for newsletters. question-naires or similar pieces eligible for -'free°0.1c franked mail-
IV. Congress: Special Servicesin addition to the allowances just dis-
cussed . and services provided the Con-gress by other Legislative Branch agen-cies . a variety of tither services an damenities are available.
For example: gymnasium. swimming .and other ph%siotherapy facilities areaccessible in the congressional officebuildings: there are separate House an dSenate restaurants. with pri►atc facilitiesfor Members: free parking garages areavailable: Senators arc cntitted to freehaircuts at a private barber shop . wit hsubsidized S2 haircuts available to Repre-sentatives. and similar beauty shopfacilities for women members . There arealso radio. television. and recordingfacilities . microfilming processes . andcomputer facilities available in the Capi-tol Hill complex . All of these services arefinanced. in whole or in part . from ap-propriated funds.
There is also maintained a CapitolPolice Force. which is separate and apar tfrom the Metropolitan Police Depart-ment of Washington . D.C. ."' The cost o fthis service in 1976 will exceed S16 mil -lion . The Capitol Police f=orce currentl ynumbers 1 .140 . with payroll expenses
divided between the House and Senate .but all operate under the Capitol Polic eBoard . Salary expense forthc force totals514 .2 million. In addition . personnel aredetailed to the force from the Mttro-politan Police Department. for whichSIA million is reimbursed . and genera lexpenses for supplies. equipment . etc. .total S562 .225-
Members of Congress also have avail-ahle the services of the Office of th eAttending Physician. at a cost of morethan S2.1 i .000 in the current year. ]PiisOffice is manned primarily by \avvDepartment medical personnel. andcurrently consists of tiic Attendin ePh►sician . a sep.ior medical officer. twomedical officers . and up to eight assist -ants . _\liowanccs are pro%-ided for thoseassigned to the Office . in addition to thei rNavy pa} . Medical supplies and equip-ment arc also provided . with Meniherso fCongress entitled to free drug% whe nprescribed by the office . in addition it )
these costs . Congress reimburses th e\a%y Department for pay and relatedcosts tut personnel assigned to the Office .including it civilian chauffeur.
N C.u[%MI9ee oa Iles:.[ M=M,Ttat<.K Mdvr No : : . \Jai %1 . 197 3
30. ir. a .JJm— t.1 Ike SJetr•ti:1> ;;tati aNI t itt• p e . the it-ctr. .:x1i A!4 ITTAtea t .'xtr .tAct IY~? :tC J,+rcrc to Naar rp• %'t` '!x la•dA,Tcd p[[Mrxi tc3krA1 Pt,x« :s.ss Srn ;.z, p[•,a:.J, . .̂(, s —I,t~ J,sr tNerai
3-4 at- :>x. 4*111 . 1 Ar.ut"r 11-Tr.t : . .-1ert ;.C . t•K the Uhife 11—'e . t Ic'unte s41la rt . ar-m--. I % I*Ark Polxc i410L Smah")tturi insillutc i'OWC OW Lfabrart %4 Con`rac t IOU Supreme Coun VOL j—1 Nainxlal ls~.s'„ '. 7hrl i3AJ .
20
One of the more interesting aspects o fCapitol Hill operations involves thepostal services available to the Congress .The Senate and House maintain separat epost offices to handle the incoming andoutgoing mail of each body. Specia lservices are provided in some instances .For example. the House Post Office pro-vides I-day mail service by messengersbetween Member offices and the Socia lSecurity Administration headquarters i nBaltimore, Maryland . It also operates acongressional pouch service" to ex-pedite mail to the Members homedistricts. by-passing the primary dis-tribution operation in the Washington.D.C. post office and speeding the mai ldirectly to the airport.
The House and Senate Post Officesare
each headed by a Postmaster, each i scurrently paid in excess of S33 .000 perWar. Each post office has fewer than 10 0employees. The U .S. Postal Service esti-mated that the volume of franked mai loriginating in the Congress as a wholethis year would total 322.4 millionpieces-3 I
By contrast . data obtained from theU.S . Postal Service for four selected largecities indicate that the number of em-ployees in these post offices ranged from5,159 to 10.536- the estimated originatingmail volume ranged from 704.3 million to
1 .4 billion pieces annually, and thesalaries of the Postmasters in these citiesranged from 531 .350 to S42.2(X) (as ofAugust. 1975) .32
V. Perspectives
Operations of the Legislative Branc hof the Federal government will cost5924.5 million in 1976, or 2-2 3 times theS345.3 million spent in 1970- This rate ofincrease is significantly higher than tha tfor total budget outlays. Direct opera-tions of the Congress, plus the cost o fspecific services provided to or for Con-gress by other Legislative Branch agcn-cics, currently account for about two -thirds of the total cost . It is perhapspertinent at this point to note that i n1974, the last near for which data areavailable, the total combined cost oflegislative operations in the 50 state samounted to S321 .5 million . 3 3
The point will doubtless be made tha tthe Legislative Branch, in terms of bot hsize and cost, remains relatively small i ncomparison to the far-flung Executive
Branch . Such a comparison, however, byno means provides a true measure of thepower and influence of the Congress. TheExecutive Branch agencies, as well as theindependent and regulatory agencies ,and the vast array of programs, projects ,and activities which they administer.were for the most part established by actof Congress . Their annual budgets arescrutinized and adjusted by the Congress,which also determines their staff levels ,sets over-all pay policy, and generallyoversees their operations .
:Moreover, Congress has in recentyears moved on several fronts to broade nits own powers, while at the same timeseeking to place limitations on the powersof the Executive Branch . The Congres-sional Budget and Impoundment Con-trol Act of 1974 is a prime example. That
31 Hranngs 4 House Apprnp(utatns subcoruautee nn I cpstattae &anch Appraprutrant for 1976. March 1973
32. Cata obtuncd frwn Fmp!.,%cc and ►abor RcUtum firtwp. I * % PeAtal scnuc. at of Aujua . 1973 . far %athrnRtan. 1) C . Ritshurgh.R Mrs . an.1 MIAs. sauncs of the Pattmaturs arc csalwrcd annwily . for adjustment. to the indicated 1975 salarres map be somewha thrjtw in 1976
33. Starr Gnswrrmew Ananui in 1914, Rurcau of the Ccntus, U .S, Mp lament of camroerm
21
statute established a promising and long-sought new budgetary process designe dto enable the Congress to more effectivel yexercise its "power of the pur_: ' But italso contained provisions restricting th ePresident's discretion with respect to theobligation and use of appropriated funds .making such decisions subject to Con-gressional approval-
Congress also . through its taxing.legislative . oversight . and investigativepowers . exercises enormous influenceupon the private sector.
On the other hand, it determines it sown budget which . under law. must beincluded in the President's budget sub -mission exactl as proposed . It makes itsown rules . determines its own staff an dsalary levels . provides itself allowancesand perquisites, and does so by methodsand procedures which it alone deter-mines . Beyond this. each House makesthese determinations for itself. When the_annual legislative appropriation bill i sacted upon . the House passes only uponits own funds and the Senate later addsin appropriations for its operations . andseldom. if ever. does either body chal-lenge the actions of the other .
For these and other reasons—in-cluding the fact that the IxgislativcBranch has or will shortly become abillion dollar operation—the costs an dmethods of operations of this branch ofgovernment should obviously not beimmune from public scrutiny .
As the foregoing analysis indicates.several questions may be raised wit hrespect to congressional operations . Stafflevels, for example, have increased sub-stantially in recent years and, as noted i nSection 11, the salary levels are high byalmost any standard . The percentage o fcongressional staffers paid at the level o f530,000 per year and above is substan-tially larger than that of the Executive
Branch. which emplovs about 2.8 millio npeople (excluding the military) .
Further. although the precise numbersare almost impossible to obtain . it is clearthat a yen substantial p,)rtion of stafftime and effort is devoted to providingconstituent services—or case work"—rather than to legislative duties. whichare the primary responsibility of theCongress. Constituent services. ofcourse. are important to the politica lfortunes of the Members.
Congressional staffers also wield con-siderable power and influence. to thepoint where some Members have regis-tered complaints. During Senate Fcar-ings on the 1976 legislative appropriatio nbill . when a proposed staff increase wasunder discussion . Senator Hollings ofSouth Carolina commented :
"There arc many Senators who feel thatall they are doing is running around andresponding to the staff . . . Everybody isworking for the staff. staff. staff. drivingyou nutty. . . . It has gotten to the poin twhere the Senators never actually si tdown and exchange ideas and learn fro mthe experience of others and listen . No wit is how many nutty whiz kids you get onthe staff to get yau : magazine artidcs andget you headlines and get all those otherthings done.-- 4
The network of special allowances an dservices available to Representatives an dSenators also has conic in for con-siderable attention and criticism . Sonicof these are undoubtedly necessary : butsonic appear to be primarily for the con-venicnce of Members and sonic seemunusually liberal . Moreover, the methodby which these perquisites are sometime sprovided and adjusted, and the discretio naccorded Members in their use and appli-cation also raise questions . One specificcriticism which has been levelled by soni cis that these perquisites help to provid eincumbent members a distinct advantag eover their challengers at election time . ,
34 Jcm1c Apptopnalumt Cummntcc hcannp on 1 .cin4mc 1lranch Apprupnahum till . 1976. Apnl N . 1475 .
22
The Congress also sometimes demon-strates the same bureaucratic growthtendencies for which it so often criticizesthe Executive Branch. Certainly therecent establishment of the new congres-sional budget process, and the earnest-ness with which Congress is working tomake this process successful, deservecommendation. Even some Members.however, have voiced doubts about th ewisdom and necessity of putting in placeto service this process a CongressionalBudget Office with almost 2 cmployecsplus sizeable separate staffs for the Houseand Senate Budget Committees. Con-cerns have been expressed that these unitsmay be duplicating one another s work ,or that o : the General Accounting Office,Congressional Research Service, or othercongressional committees _
These matters and other practiceswhich have been the subject of con-siderable media attention—so-calledjunketeering, frequent recesses, etc_
have undoubtedly contributed to damag-ing the congressional image. This situ-ation is unfortunate and a cause fo rconcern_
Finally, the argument that the signifi-cant increase in the size and costs of th eLegislative Branch is due to the tremcn-dous expansion of the Executive Branc hand the numbers of Federal programs, al lof which in turn increase the responsi-bilities of the Congress, is not over-powering. Such growth is primarilyattributable to the Congress itself.
The more important issue, particularl yat a time when there is apparently a tren dtoward congressional governmen twould seem to be the extent, if anv. towhich this increase in the size and costsof the Legislative Branch is resulting i nthe improvement and greater effective-ness of the legislative process and prod-uct . On this question one is likely t oencounter a variety of opinions .
~ f
23
Table A_1Appropriations for Major Agencies within the Legislative Brane h
Fiscal Years 1960.1970.1976Aew
6tloeledi190
1978
19M
CONG iESSIONALBUDGETOFFIGE S —
; —
s 4.736.340
aFTE
oGrG— — 6.4x5.000
ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL:0H6eed- -ArchlectatheCapfa MIDI) 825.000 1 .570.,10 0Cadiigw expenses 50.000 50,000 220.00 0
1410lariagrounds:C
Ca chbuildings _ 1.013.200 2,127.400 5.166.00 0Ealenson ftheCap~lot 2.275.000 -
------------------------ 357.000 357.000 874.100 2 .785.00 0SenaHeo~Ha6rsce~tbuidings- .--• 1,819.700 331.0.8700 892LOW
ds06tiorWSerate115500 76600 12730 0
olfKep~ri0rrgate 200.000 1250.000 —HHotrseolFicebui0r~--••- . ° 1 .451.300 5.479.000 9.814.70 0Acarstitina property. con -
addi
tpusebu lm 16,500.000 107,000 —pp oetrplart . . . 1 .901.600 3,512.000 9.063,00 0
pmeplant ---- •----•-•---•• 2 5 81.000 300.000 —Amerahons and irnproverrents to
provde fapbrbes fo rci
pMsrcat7hx+d~.ypptd — — 2700.00000 6.000 — —
Lrbrary .anld ngsand f(raund sStn+cturalaMmechan.catare---•---•- 1.0110.500 1.017.000 2304.000FL
and~iumistrrgs 140.000 350.000 —
tiAernorialBurldufg — 2.800.000 33.000.000.Subtotal.ArcMectatt+eCaptd $27.412 900 S 24383 .100 S 74,479,100
BOTANICGARDEN 5
327.500 S
599.800 S
1,205 .000LIBRARY OF CONGRESS :
Saranesandexpenses 7.159.890 19.061,500 57.597.800s
an
s _ 1,450.000 3.124.000 6.753.500New Tech-
rwbpcal Uses of Copyrighted
Cargressronai Research Service — — 337,000
(LegiWatneReferarce5enrce) 1.455.400 4 .135.000 16106,000orstnnbbuuttanacataikgw,cards L98L3oo 7,728.000 11 .585.000Boolrstorthegererslcaleclgrrs 350.000 750.000 1,695.000
—
800ksbrthelawlrbbrraarryy 90.000 140.000 251 .000-
Boowslorthe5upremeCowt 30.000 — —Presenrabonof Amer , n motio n
pttures 60.000 — --
-Booi~slar the blind x4 ptrysicalyhand.czOped 1.619.400 6,997.000 15,872000
Organ zurg and microfilming th epapers a the presidents and other -greatAmentans 106.800 118.800 —
Cdkctanand distnbut-on of-
library matenals (sWW foreigncurrency fund) — 1 .802 .000 _ 2 .114 .100
Furnitureandfurnisbungs — — 4 .098.000Rees-onaannctatedconst .tutwn — — 34 .000Subtotal.L4braryofCongress 14,302.790 43,656.300 116.843.400
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEPnnbngandbrndmg 11 .500.000 - 30.300.000 109.294 .000Office of Superintendent of
Documents 3,520,350 9.650.000 37,775.700Gorernrnent Pnr•.hngOffice revolving
turd — — .. .Subtotal, Government Printing
Office 15.020.350 39.950.000 147.069.700GENERALA000UNTINGOFFICE =
41 .800.000
_ b3,4 99,—
00—
0 137,222,000
COST-ACCOUNTING STANDARD SBOARD — — 1 .635.000
PAY INCREASE SUPPLEMENTAL — — 8376,00 0TOTAL, LEGISLATIVE AGENCIES S 98.863.540 5172288.200 1498.251 .540
Includes funds actually provided to date plus pending supplemental requests, primarily for costs of October 1975 pay increas eSource: Federal Budget documents. Legislative Branch Approprral on Act . 1976 (Public Law 94 .59), Supplemental Appropriation
Act. 1976(Public Law94. 157), and House Report 94 . 1027, on H. R . 13172 pending Second SupplementalAppropratanBill, 197 6
-24
-
Appropriations for Operations of the SenateFiscal Years 1960.IAAX 3119076
ups im9mm
Cmwmuwm and T*qp0 thewcepoesiftmwasemliws S
2.521.320 $ 41.070IM900 S 4-990.7400 me WeeAwmvmwoand
*Wrid -teaders MOOD 16.000 16.000of
ftePhsiftit 112-140 306.153 594.065UrmftLeaderS . . - 105930 239.000Office
Bla~oreyof She
and. . . . .. 22.050 68.730 185.440. . . . . .ommd othecomplon 209.1955.500
-17.185
-30200
'nd sY^r+
m639.140
2.372.9601 .675.4484.017.014
'_3.073.5758-934.592
Ca0amnee corm ee mmal onty 44.020 II5.619 18542 5
41.020 115.619 185.42511 .052.450 24.656.608 45.668.578icv== at Arms 3.0.00 0
Ot,fc2r
---
-the secretaries for the 2-304.995 4.915.909 13.095.160rnmj"andffwwity IIZI95 196.612 296245
ConvensaWnOIK;0-f,t&; kcwabve mnis
- - 4.75ROVOODDoftheSenate- 206.125 374.100 WHO
CorbrWnt expenses a the Senateuqmubmnuqpmz 117.150 - -SenatePolicycwwrMteesAutormobdesandnwwoenarbre -217.660 473.440 738.110. . . . . . . .
. . .31 .140
209.19550i880- 4MO1.000
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.550.00031 .900 6.646 .755 18.7343001.&1%6210
46 .3555.708-966
96 .57516.734 .000
Po-p--ws . . . . 49.875195 .1000
120.133377.950 2.48529.250SmaterestaurarKS 85 .000 - -cwwwrftcations 15.150 35.150Furrutwe 3 :.190 31
:190
1 : 16.560Other 10 .000 - -Paymaeasesupplernemal - 4.676.000TOTAL SENATE S 26.105130 S 54.813.M $127.359.475
[nckxles ha'IQS xt"Iyprooded to date plus pendw% supplernenta, reqxmts, prinaray for CCSISof October 1975 pay wwreawSource: Federal Budget documents. LegrsLat.ve Branch APWOPrQton Act. 1976 (Puthc Law 94-59) . `upptementaF AppropriationAct 1976 (PuU-c Law 94-157) . and. pendaK Second SuppLernental ApffVejxon EUI. 1976
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