Members of Congress, filled with the spirit of giving, went home for Christmas carrying bundles of special gifts they voted for themselves during the adjournment rush.
All were neatly wrapped inside major bills approved in the frantic last days of the 1985 session. Some presents can be opened right away, some next year and some may even have to be exchanged.
But they are all yuletide goodies: cash, campaign contributions and prospects of more pay.
The Christmas perks include:
— A potential $7,500 bonus for senators, but not House members, in the form of permission to earn that much more on the lecture circuit.
— A provision making it more difficult to kill the next congressional pay raise, probably due after the 1986 elections.
— Doubling of the $50 credit a taxpayer now can take on Form 1040 for contributions to any congressional campaign.
The increase in allowable lecture fees and other ”honoraria,” from 30 to 40 percent of senators` $75,100 annual salary, made its way into the
”must-pass” $368 billion catchall spending bill.
Included in the bill is a provision that would require a veto by both the Senate and House–instead of just one of them–to block a congressional pay raise.
