I have consistently voted against COLA’s during my years in Congress. Members pay increases are calculated through Congressional cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA’s). COLA’s are annual changes that take effect automatically unless disapproved by Congress.  This law was passed long before I was elected to Congress and was adopted so that the Congress would not vote for a large increase in its base pay like it did back in the 1980’s. The annual adjustments are based on the Employment Cost Index. 

Again this year, I voted against the COLA increase for members of Congress. The bill is now pending before the Senate.