WASHINGTON — Congress wants to boost spending on itself by nearly 11 percent this year, an increase that’s part of a massive spending bill that has smaller increases for most agencies that deal with public health, education, energy and other domestic needs.
The hike in the congressional budget, which the Senate is considering this week as part of a $410 billion fiscal 2009 spending bill, is higher than the 8 percent overall boost for most domestic programs.
As a result, Congress appears on track to approve spending $4.4 billion on itself, up from $3.97 billion last year.
The big increase for Congress has a number of sources: The new Capitol Visitor Center, improvements to the Capitol’s aging infrastructure and more money for agencies that oversee federal operations.
Also included is $19 million to renovate seven committee rooms in the House, funding for staff cost-of-living pay increases and tens of thousands of dollars for expense accounts for congressional leaders.
Not included in this budget are the salaries of members; those are part of a separate account. Members got a 2.8 percent pay increase in January, and most now make $174,000 a year. Leaders make slightly more. Members’ pay will be frozen in 2010.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., chairwoman of the House Legislative Appropriations subcommittee, said that much of the increase would make up for deferred maintenance and other higher costs, such as energy, rent and travel.
The bill’s backers also note that departments that handle health, education, transportation and other domestic programs got sizable help from last month’s economic stimulus bill.
Still, critics see the congressional spending as excessive at a time when lawmakers are preaching austerity.
Under the bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky each would get $40,000 for expenses through Sept. 30. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would get $25,000. Uses include meals, receptions and gifts to heads of state, expenses that someone not in the leadership wouldn’t incur.
