Group makes bogus attack on HR 1 over congressional salaries

Members of Congress already earn six-figure paychecks. A conservative group says that a Democratic-backed bill would allow them to earn a second paycheck worth even more. 

But that’s bogus.

The claim from Act for America pertains to H.R. 1, the For the People Act. The bill combines previous proposals that aim to make it easier to vote, and it changes campaign finance rules to help Americans who aren’t rich run for federal office. The House is expected to vote on the bill in March.

Act for America wrote a plea for Congress to reject the bill. In a claim about proposals for the use of campaign funds, the group said that based on an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, "members of Congress will be able to draw a SECOND salary from that money worth an estimated $600,000 per year!"

This would be "on top of the generous taxpayer-funded paychecks and perks they already give themselves!" the group said. 

But there’s no such provision in the bill, and Act for America did not reply to our requests for evidence. After we inquired about the claims, we noticed that the webpage no longer included the $600,000 figure.

Act for America calls itself the "nation’s premier national security grassroots organization." The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League say the group is anti-Muslim.

The Campaign Legal Center, a group that supports H.R. 1, said that there is no provision in the bill to pay lawmakers $600,000.

"I’ve tried to figure it out, but I can’t find anything," said Brendan Fischer, the center’s director of federal reform. "There are going to be some claims about H.R. 1 that are misstatements or statements of opinion, but these claims are just made up."

The Congressional Budget Office analysis of a previous version of the legislation also makes no mention of a "second salary."

A section in the bill about "personal use services" states that candidates can use campaign money for child care, elder care or health insurance premiums so they can campaign, but the provision does not apply to incumbents. 

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The goal of this provision is to help Americans who aren’t rich to run for Congress. Many lawmakers are millionaires who have wealth and incomes above many of the residents they represent.

Current federal law bans candidates from using campaign funds for personal use. The Federal Election Commission, which can rule on whether an expense is legitimate, has given the go-ahead in recent years for candidates to use campaign funds for child care.

H.R. 1 doesn’t change a longstanding policy that allows non-incumbent federal candidates to use campaign funds to pay themselves a salary. The salary has to be whatever is less: the candidate’s income for the previous year or $174,000, which is what current members of Congress earn.

In 2002, the FEC voted to allow candidates running for Congress or president to pay themselves a salary using campaign funds. When commissioner Michael Toner, a Republican, sponsored the measure, he said, "candidates of modest means too often have been crowded out of running for office. It may allow people like blue-collar workers, schoolteachers and others who don't make six-figure salaries to run for office.'' 

But candidates rarely pay themselves a salary. The Center for Public Integrity found that 22 candidates running for Congress collectively paid themselves $155,000 during the 2018 election cycle. 

FreeRoots, the hosting platform where Act for America posted its message, responded to an inquiry from PolitiFact, but did not provide any evidence that members of Congress would be able to draw a second salary worth up to $600,000. 

Act for America said H.R. 1 will allow members of Congress to draw a second salary "worth an estimated $600,000 per year!"

We found nothing in the legislation that would allow members of Congress to earn a second salary. There is a provision that allows non-incumbent candidates to use campaign funds to pay for expenses such as child care so they are able to run for office. 

H.R. 1 does not change an existing policy that allows candidates to draw a salary of up to $174,000 from campaign funds. That policy doesn’t apply to those who are already in Congress.

We rate this statement False.

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