Would Congress get more done if members worked a full week?

Members of Congress spend less than half of their time legislating in Washington, earning the remainder of their taxpayer-funded six-digit salaries during district work periods (mostly campaigning and soliciting donations) off Capitol Hill. Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) contends that lawmakers’ gratuitously flexible schedules have much to do with repeated underwhelming legislative productivity.

That’s why Jolly is reviving a bid to force Congress to work a full 40-hour workweek, instead of the three or four days members currently spend on the Hill each week.

“A workweek in Washington should be no different than a workweek in every other town across the nation,” Jolly told the Washington Examiner. “Americans expect their leaders to govern. Look at all the bills gathering dust; let’s give voice to the people on issues like border security, transportation and a budget that finally balances.”

Lawmakers in the House typically show up on Capitol Hill on Monday just in time to make a 6:30 p.m. vote and are usually nowhere to be found by Thursday afternoon. Other times, lawmakers work a Tuesday to Friday workweek, typically with a light load on Friday.

Jolly’s proposed a resolution would require House lawmakers to “be in session at least 40 hours each week other than a week that is designated as a district work period.”

His legislation would allow for lawmakers to take off for federal holidays but, instead of the customary practice of taking off the days before and after those holidays, lawmakers would be required to be in session “at least eight hours per day for the remaining days of [a holiday] week.”

If successful, Jolly’s effort would bring lawmakers’ currently scheduled 133 days working at the Capitol closer to the 240 days most American workers will spend on the job in 2015.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are scheduled for an eight-day recess from Oct. 10 to 18. That follows about a month of recess enjoyed by both legislative bodies during August and September.

The post Would Congress get more done if members worked a full week? appeared first on Personal Liberty®.

from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/would-congress-get-more-done-if-members-worked-a-full-week/

from WordPress https://toddmsiebert.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/would-congress-get-more-done-if-members-worked-a-full-week/