Rep. Todd Young (IN-9) voted today in favor H.R. 325, the No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 as it passed the House on a vote of 285-144.  The legislation would raise the U.S. debt limit until mid-May, and longer-term increases would be contingent upon Congress passing a budget by the statutory April 15 deadline.  If Congress fails to produce a budget that passes both chambers by then, members of Congress would have their salary suspended until a budget did pass.

“As I visit folks in the 9^th District, it is pretty clear to me that Americans have two simple requests of Congress,” said Young.  “They want us to address our long-term spending and debt problems, and they want us to work together to solve them.  This bill is a pretty simple mechanism to ensure that both requests are fulfilled.  If we can’t get that job done, then we don’t deserve to be paid.”

As a member of the House Budget Committee in the 112^th Congress, Young helped craft two federal budgets that passed the House in 2011 and 2012.  The Senate has not drafted or passed a budget since 2009.

“Ideally both the House and Senate lay out their spending priorities in a budget, we identify common ground and then build off that foundation to responsibly fund the government,” said Young.  “Unfortunately, inaction by the Senate the past few years has resulted in government spending and debt skyrocketing because we aren’t working off such a set of priorities.  If we want to fix this problem and get our economy moving again, we have to start by passing a balanced budget.”

Young spoke on the floor in support the bill.  Video can be watched below or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax3uUDcP7TM.