House Approves $23,200 Increase in Senate Pay

The House on a voice vote Wednesday passed a $23,200 pay raise for the Senate in a bill that would also virtually eliminate public disclosure of gifts that lawmakers take from lobbyists and others.

Final Senate action to send the bill to President Bush was expected soon. The raise would bring Senate salaries to the same $125,100 that House members have been paid since Jan. 1.

Before agreeing to the raise, the House insisted on tightening Senate ethics rules, similar to standards adopted earlier by the House. For example, senators would be barred from supplementing their public salaries with speaking fees from private groups. In addition, senators would no longer be allowed to collect stipends for providing commentary on radio talk shows and similar activities.

Gifts would have to be reported only if they were worth more than $250. Because gifts worth more than $250 can be accepted only from family members--and family gifts don’t need to be reported--such reporting would virtually be eliminated.

Multiple gifts from any one source would not count toward the limit until one exceeded $100.