Bill Would Force Members of Congress to Fly Coach

Many of the issues that I have with Congress would be solved by one simple Constitutional Amendment. "Congress will pass no law that applies to the people and not to Congress. Congress will also pass no law that applies to Congress but not the people." Part of the reason Congress is not solving problems is because as individuals and as an institution, they do not have "skin in the game". Examples include: retirement (Social Security), medical care (Affordable Care Act), tax (exemptions for Congress). The list goes on.

It would save a small fraction of money, so why not?! We as servicemembers have to fly coach anywhere we go because it is cheaper, so let's spread the love.

SGT Janelle Dean has this right. "I wish Congress would make attempts at tackling the forest of problems, not the trees." Legislation such as this is simply pandering or navel-gazing at best. It iss the equivalent of arguing whether BAS may be used to purchase Starbucks coffee rather than Folgers.

The average Members' Representational Allowance is $1.244M of which about $1M is for staff salaries (not to exceed 14 personnel) with the remainder provided for "official office expenses" by a variety of formulae. Addressing travel restrictions between grades of seating categories for elected representatives provides minimal benefit economically and ultimately does not address "waste, fraud, and abuse" as one of the bill's authors indicate.

I followed the link to the article and from the article to the Congressional Research Service report on Congressional Salaries and Allowances. The bottom line is that more than $256K is set aside per member to fund "official office expenses" with travel and rental of 2,500-square feet of space defined as two additional elements. Whether the funds are used for any particular type of travel (e.g., rail, air, road) is not addressed. The formula is "64 times the mileage rate [varies by distance from DC] times the distance traveled, plus 10 percent." On its own, the additional travel component to the "official office expenses" seems more generous than the DoD official mileage rate. Distinctively, the total sum from MRA are treated universally. Simply put, funds are available for any official expense independent from the formula determination; there is no "cap" for travel. If accounting of the MRA were made more complex, Representatives would likely include an accountant (if they don't already) to maintain all official documents in audit-ready status...a DTS technician on-staff for travel in the simplest form.

The preponderance of the allowance, like the military's BAH, is appropriate and reasonable. Focusing on this topic is a distraction from consideration of national-level issues.

JDH