A Florida congressman launched a bill this week to pull the plug on congressional pensions.
U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., starting his second term in Congress, unveiled the End Pensions in Congress (EPIC) Act on Wednesday. DeSantis bill would ensure future members of Congress do not receive pensions and would prevent current members, including the Florida congressman himself, who are currently not vested in the system, from receiving pensions.
DeSantis, a former law school professor who penned Dreams From our Founding Fathers, insisted pensions are part of a culture that enables career politicians and not how public funds should be spent.
"The Founding Fathers envisioned elected officials as part of a servant class, yet Washington, D.C., has evolved into a ruling class culture, DeSantis said. Pensions for members of Congress represent an inappropriate use of taxpayer money, especially when the idea of a pension in the private sector is fast becoming a relic from a bygone era. How can Congress make private-sector employees pony up taxes to fund pensions for members of Congress when few of these taxpayers enjoy such benefits? As we begin this new Congress, we must focus on restoring accountability in Washington and this includes ending pensions for members of Congress."
One of nine congressional Republicans who founded the House Freedom Caucus earlier this week, DeSantis had some of the leading conservatives in the chamber behind his bill. Republican U.S. Reps. Rod Blum of Iowa, Trey Gowdy and Mike Mulvaney of South Carolina, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Reid Ribble of Wisconsin joined on as co-sponsors.
"When I took office, I declined a congressional pension because members of Congress shouldn't be given special treatment, said Massie. Our country is over $18 trillion in debt, yet congressmen receive special benefits unavailable to most in the private sector. If congressmen want to save for retirement, they should do so with 401(k)-type plans, rather than rely on taxpayers to take care of them even after leaving Congress. To tackle out-of-control federal spending, Congress must lead by example by ending defined-benefit pensions for members of Congress."
I have said many, many times that members of Congress should be treated more like ordinary American workers when it comes to compensation and very few people these days get a pension, Mulvaney said.
Our political system was designed for Americans to be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians, Ribble said. In a time when pensions are no longer available to the vast majority of people working in the private sector, it is wrong to ask taxpayers to subsidize this benefit for politicians. Cutting pensions is a responsible step that should have been taken long ago.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
