From the office of U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski:
U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski, Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today announced that the bipartisan legislation to end the Tea Party Republican shutdown and reopen the federal government allows a 1 percent pay increase for federal employees and ensures that federal employees furloughed through no fault of their own receive their full pay.
“I’m proud to have fought on the front lines for federal employee pay as hard as federal employees fight on the front lines each and every day for America,” Senator Mikulski said. “The promise of a modest pay raise and back pay for furloughed government employees are good first steps in recognizing the value of federal workers. They have been the targets of unending attacks. They’ve been furloughed, laid off and locked out through no fault of their own. I believe federal employees should never be scapegoats in fights over deficit reduction.”
“The government shutdown was a real punch in the gut to federal workers who were already reeling from multi-year pay freezes, sequestration cuts and furloughs, as well as threats to health and retirement benefits. These hardworking public servants did not cause our economic crisis, but they paid a heavy price. I’m proud we were able to fulfill our promise to make them whole again with back pay and finally break through the pay freeze with a modest adjustment for next year,” said Senator Cardin. “As they return to doing their work on behalf of the American people, I will continue to fight to keep federal workers from being pawns in every budget battle that lies ahead.”
As Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Mikulski fought to ensure the final agreement to reopen the federal government would permit the President to implement his plan for a 1 percent pay raise in January, 2014. Senator Cardin introduced the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, which was cosponsored by Senators Mikulski, Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.). The Cardin bill, which was included in the final agreement approved Wednesday, guaranteed that federal workers who were furloughed because of the lapse in federal funding or government shutdown would receive their full pay.
Federal employee pay has been frozen for three years with no cost-of-living adjustments, leaving families stressed and stretched. They have been subjected to rolling furloughs since March due to sequester and have also been required to pay 2.3 percent more from their salaries into their retirement plans.
Maryland is home to the headquarters of 20 major federal agencies, from the Social Security Administration to the Food and Drug Administration. More than 130,000 federal employees live and work in Maryland, serving the nation and serving the world.
The bipartisan legislation passed today funds the government through January 15, 2014 and extends our nation’s debt limit through February 7, 2014. It also starts the budget conference that Democrats have been fighting to start for the past six months so Congress can come together on a long-term solution. The House and the Senate will name conferees and the agreement will call for the budget conference to finish by December 13th. The legislation now moves to the White House to be signed into law by President Obama.
Good job dipshits. Not only did you fail to cut any spending, you increased it. What a joke. Any of you out there that continue to vote for such spend thrifty politicians deserve to go bankrupt. I really really really hope you all enjoy your hope and change.
The deal the Senate just approved appropriates $174,000 to the widow of former Sen. Lautenberg–who was worth up to $55 million! It also does nothing to help families struggling with the financial impacts of Obamacare.
explain this you greedy liberal a$$es
And $2 billion extra for a dam in Kentucky, an obvious pay-off to Senator McConnell.
Wasn’t it for a dam in Ohio? I don’t know myself, but that’s what was said last night I believe.
The dam project is for the Ohio River, which forms the border between Ohio and Kentucky.
“Tea Party Republican shutdown”? How stupid does she think we are? Obviously stupid enough to keep voting for them all. I am a furloughed government worker and what did I do? Went out and got another job!
TD, you are not one of the Odumba Sheeple. They do not know what to do without sucking off the government nipple.
Honestly. I love how it’s termed the “Tea Party Republican” shutdown. If Obama and his lackeys would have agreed to ONE SINGLE provision it would all have been over. Yet they stated again and again that they would not negotiate. Isn’t that how bills are passed? Give and take? Lessee, I wonder how many of the “goodies” baked into this bill were introduced by liberals? I wrote this old hag years ago complaining about how she isn’t representing me and she basically called me a racist and a bigot. No message I’ve ever sent any one of MY congresspeople have ever gotten anything in return but vitriol. Dems are the FIRST to start the name calling and nasty attitudes. I’m so sick of it I can’t see straight.
Bipartisan? Only in a liberal trolls mind would Odumba getting his way be considered bipartisan. I just wish the 27 senators who bowed to the king would just put the D in front of their name already. If the health care is as good as the roll out of this enrollment it should be a long year for O and his sheeple.
If the 88 house mebers did that than the GOP would be the minority!!!!
Get back on your meds Marc. The hate is strong in you.
You lose again; move on to your need stupid issue. Fooled again by the tea party and you keep on drinking their tea.
I will keep drinking the tea and you keep drinking the urine from the demtards.
The tea party cost this country $24 billion and McConnell got $2 billion for a bridge and people still support them. That is just pathetic.
Obozo has cost us $7 TRILLION and you still suck his ass.
You are just parviscient.
All you Dumbocratics are pathetic. No matter what BS your fed by the media you step up and ask for more. This countries government is a joke. It’s business as usual.
So, we up to our asses in debt, and these knuckleheads have no problem paying the federal employees while they were doing NOTHING for half a month. And people wonder why we’re bankrupt. Just another two weeks paid vacation for the rank and file.
At least now they can get back to work and do nothing. This president, who on the campaign trail called it unpatriotic to keep raising the deficit, has added over a trillion every year. This president and his toadies in Congress with D’s and R’s behind their names have no problem voting to lay debt on tax payers who haven’t even been born yet. The US borrows half a trillion more EVERY year to pay on the interest of the 17 trillion… and they see no problem with this.
Think of it as a small cost for being jerks and preventing them from doing their jobs because some people wanted to cry and scream until they got their way.
Only a dem would not find fought in a government that takes in 220 billion a month and pays out over 300 billion a month. DC math at its best. Fear the Tea Party, when this Odumba care fails and it will you will be singing a different tune. What am I saying? It will be the Tea Party’s fault. McConnell, and McCain are not republicans my friend. Please tell us how the Tea Party cost us 24 billion dollars? Can’t wait to hear this one. Where is David A Porter with his DC math?
I am curious if they will now get paid overtime to stay after and catch up on the work that wasn’t completed. I just don’t understand where this country is going.
No, last time they just caught up meaning that those applications for this took a while to get the backlog unjammed.
Stop with the trying to get rid of ACA, you can’t do it and it will not fail. Why are you people such so loser? Let it go my goodness, like little kids on the playground your bulling will not work.
It will fail for two reasons. 1)The ones who need to enroll to make it work will not enroll. The young and healthy have no desire to pay the outrageous costs for the ACA which has high deductibles people with low wages they cannot afford because they cannot find work. I know of people who cannot afford the ACA and make their rent so they are choosing to pay the penalty. When these people refuse to sign up and instead pay the penalty who is going to pay for those on the program who are subsidised? 2) The number of people who are subsidised and pay nothing into it and use their coverage under the ACA will greatly outnumber those who pay into the program and seldom use the benefits. The middgle age working class wont buy into the ACA plan because they get their insurance through their employer, and the elderly have medicare and medicaid. These two groups opting out of the ACA lowers the numbers of people who opt in and pay.
What government program does work? Heck, Government does not work.
And no one has addressed the fact that folks will opt to pay the penalty until they really NEED coverage for something dreadfully costly and they’ll then sign up since their pre-existing condition cannot be refused. Then drop it again. At least that’s what I’d do if I weren’t one of the poor saps stuck with paying for the whole Charlie Foxtrot. Politicians always plan for the citizenry to be stupid… I guess they only assume it since that same group keeps re-electing them. Plan came from DC = Plan sucks.
Mikulski, Cardin and Hoyer are clearly guilty of a depraved indifference to common sense. They should all be forced to step down for gross incompetence and reckless endangerment to the entire country. Meanwhile, we the taxpayers will not only be paying 100% of the extortion fees rendered by Obamacare (designed to destroy our country entirely), we will also be paying 72% of the premiums for every Congressman and staffer. If this is not tyranny, nothing is. Hope these maggots are proud of themselves. IT IS TIME TO VOTE ALL THE BUMS OUT.
I have no problem with the pay increase, but giving them pay that they did not earn is not right. They should not be given payment for hours they didn’t work, regardless of the shutdown. I wouldn’t be given pay for a day I didn’t work, neither should they. They should have to use their vacation time or something, I don’t know, but you don’t just give someone a wage for not showing up, even if it wasn’t their fault……
They were paid so the congress could stop donating their pay, proving the tea party is not conservative, just a bunch of children who didn’t get their way.
We did not work because we were not allowed to. We were basically fired because we qualified for unemployment benefits. We did not have a choice in this or caused this problem, so we have every right to get paid. Congress is the one that does not deserve to get paid for the time that we were not allowed to work.
mikulski is one of the biggest reasons we should have term limits for congressmen…