Nashville Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper says support is growing for his ‘No Budget, No Pay’ Act. But the legislation still hasn’t caught the eye of the power brokers on Capitol Hill.
Cooper is trying to tie lawmaker’s salaries to their ability to pass a budget. He has forty eight cosponsors in the House and eleven supporters in the Senate. That’s a lot more support than most bills get, but it still doesn’t guarantee the legislation will ever reach the House floor.
But Cooper says he’s confident party leaders will eventually take his legislation seriously.
“I think leadership is deeply worried we’ll get a lot of cosponsors, and then they’ll have to react. And they’ll just do whatever’s popular. If we can show them that this is popular with rank and file members they will be the first to be on board.”
Cooper pushed his bill at a press conference announcing the “Fix Congress Now Caucus.” The group is comprised of ten House members who say they want to bring a more cooperative spirit to Washington. The bipartisan caucus includes Tennessee Republican Congresswoman Diane Black and has signed off on Cooper’s “No Budget, No Pay” act.
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