(PresidentialHill.com)- Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Friday that the House of Representatives would henceforth require workers to receive a minimum pay of $45,000 per year.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter, Pelosi wrote that the House would set the minimum annual pay for staff at $45,000 for the first time.
She said she was pleased to announce that, pursuant to the statutory authority of the Speaker in 2 U.S.C. 4532, the House will, for the first time, set the minimum annual pay for staff at $45,000.
Lawmakers in the House will have until September 1 to implement the new wage structure. Pelosi stated that the maximum compensation for House staffers has also been increased to $203,700 to be on par with the Senate.
Pelosi stated that a 21 percent increase in members’ Representational Allowance, implemented in March, would more than compensate for this compensation adjustment.
Pelosi wrote in her letter that as a result of having a competitive minimum pay, the House would be better equipped to retain and recruit exceptional and diverse people. It will open the doors to public service for individuals who may not have been able to afford it in the past.
She said that this is also a question of justice because many of the youngest employees who work the most prolonged hours are also among the lowest-paid.
Before, there was no such thing as a pay floor in Congress, with some workers earning as little as $30,000 per year.
Demand Progress, a vocal advocate for higher staffer pay, said Pelosi’s decision was a glorious moment in congressional history.
It was reported that if all goes according to plan, this House will be on track to enhance the working circumstances for its employees in the 117th Congress, which is more than Congress has done in the previous three decades combined.
As Pelosi pointed out, these steps come just days before the House is expected to enact legislation that would officially recognize the ability of congressional workers to organize unions.
Glorious.
