Senator looks to stop congressional pay raises

New York’s junior senator introduced legislation this week aimed at halting congressional pay raises.

Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill would prohibit automatic raises for members of Congress. 12 of her colleagues in the Senate are cosponsoring the legislation.

The bill mirrors a similar one introduced last year by Senator Russ Feingold, a Democratic from Wisconsin.

According to Gillibrand, the legislation would end the annual cost-of-living adjustment provided to members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“Hardworking, middle class workers are never guaranteed an annual pay raise, and neither should their leaders in Congress,” Gillibrand said in a prepared statement.

In 2010 and 2011, individual bills eliminated the pay raise temporarily.

Gillibrand’s legislation would permanently end the practice.