Government funding bill gives Congress a raise, sets new rules on ticket sales

[Ray]

Congressional leadership released a 1,500 page spending bill to keep the government open through March 14. The legislation was supposed to be a simple continuation of funding while lawmakers negotiate a package that will cover all of next year. The drawn-out negotiation process led to everyone wanting a piece of the pie, now it includes dozens of add-ons, many of which have nothing to do with government funding. 

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-TN: “They got a bunch of garbage they want to pass.” 

The bill contains $100 billion in disaster relief for hurricane recovery in the southeast and $30 billion in aid for Farmers. Those items are just a drop in the bucket of the massive bill. 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-TX: “Republicans since the election on November 5, we’re less than, or fewer than 45 days right, and we’ve now added 330 billion by my count, in deficit spending unpaid for it’s just, it’s just, I said earlier, we’re profoundly unserious on spending.”

Here’s what else is inside. 

First – lawmakers are giving themselves a raise for the first time since 2009 by restarting cost of living adjustments. Members currently make $174,000 a year. 

As Investopedia points out, “a family of four with both adults working needs about $135,000 in income before taxes to make ends meet in Washington, D.C.” Here’s the catch – members of Congress have to maintain two households – one in DC, the other in their home state. That’s not easy considering DC is the 9th most expensive city in the country, behind Los Angeles and ahead of Boston. 

Rep. Sean Casten, D-IL: “If you’ve never given members of Congress a raise, for 14 years they haven’t had a raise, then you can only attract people like me who made enough money in a prior line of work who can afford to come here.” 

The CR includes new rules for ticket issuers like Ticketmaster and StubHub. It will require them to “clearly and conspicuously” display the total price of the ticket and an itemized list of the base price and fees. There’s a similar provision for hotel room prices. 

There’s also a measure to transfer the 174-acre RFK stadium campus to the District of Columbia; the unused land is currently controlled by the federal government. The city wants to knock down the rusting stadium and build a new one that will be surrounded by apartments, office buildings, shops and restaurants. They hope to bring the Washington Commanders back to DC. 

Other policy provisions include restrictions on US capital investment in China and five year extensions for special trade programs with Haiti and Africa that include duty free access for apparel and textile products.