Democratic Senator: Congress Should Take Same Sequester Pay Cuts As Furloughed Federal Workers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/bill-nelson-sequester_n_2790030.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&

by Amanda McCorquodale, huffingtonpost.com
March 1st 2013

A Florida senator wants Congress to pay for its inability to resolve the budget crisis, which may cause almost a million workers to lose a quarter of their wages.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) released a statement on his plans to reduce Congress's pay by the greatest percentage of any federal worker furloughed as a result of the sequester.

The bill would be called the Congressional Overspending Pay Accountability Act.

"No one should get paid for inaction,” Nelson said. “And Congress clearly hasn’t done the job to avert the sequester."

Thursday, the Senate rejected proposals to halt the $85 billion sequester that goes into affect Friday for the remainder of 2013.

As part of the extensive budget cuts, federal workers will be forced to take one or two days of unpaid furloughs a week starting mid-April through September.

The loss in wages is estimated to be 10 to 20 percent of workers' pay.

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