Hultgren: No budget, no pay for lawmakers

Members of Congress should have to put their money where their mouths are, one suburban representative says.

Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren, of Winfield, is proposing the Congressional Pay Accountability Act, which would require Congress to pass a budget and all appropriations bills by the beginning of the fiscal year — in October, or they won't get paid.

“If we don't, we simply won't get paid. Outside of Washington, getting paid only when you do your job would sound like common sense; unfortunately, that's not the case here,” Hultgren said.

If passed and put to use, Hultgren admits, this legislation could cramp his own family's finances. But if failing to pass a budget has affected the finances of families in his district, he says it should affect his too.

Democrats and Republicans finally agreed on a 2011 budget on Friday, just hours away from a government shutdown and more than six months into the fiscal year.

“In Washington, we're finally wrapping up work on a budget for this year,” said Hultgren. “We're doing this because the last Congress never bothered to pass a budget. This is outrageous to me — and I know it's outrageous to many of my constituents as well.”

It is the first piece of legislation that the freshman congressman has introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives. He said the process was challenging and a lot of work, but in the end, a good process. He has been talking about legislation like this for over a year now, before the campaign even started.

“It was a commitment we made in the campaign and the timing made sense,” Hultgren said. “We're recognizing the failure of last year is impacting our ability to get work done this year.”

The bill is new and other representatives have yet to sign on in support as co-sponsors. Hultgren says he and his staff will be working over the next month to build bipartisan support to pass the legislation.