On Wednesday, January 23, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 325: The “No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013”. The big lie is in the title; if the members of Congress don’t pass a budget, they will still get paid every penny, they’ll just be paid later. Regardless, the bill temporarily suspends the debt ceiling so that the United States can pay the bills that Congress racked up until May 18th; because of this part, the bill became law.
H.R. 325: NO BUDGET, NO PAY ACT OF 2013
SEC. 2. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF DEBT CEILING.
- The debt ceiling will be suspended from the day the President signs this bill until May 18, 2013.
SEC. 3. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN ESCROW UPON FAILURE TO AGREE TO BUDGET RESOLUTION.
- By April 15, 2013, the House and Senate need to each pass their own version of a budget for fiscal year 2014.*
- If one of the branches of Congress does not pass a budget, their salaries will be set aside in an account and they will be paid either when a budget is passed or on the last day of the 113th Congress.
*This means that the House could pass the Paul Ryan ‘screw the poor’ budget and the Senate could pass a budget giving private jets to homeless people and both parts of Congress would be paid. There is no need for a conference to merge the two budget bills to send a real budget to the President.
