# Plain Language Summary: 27th Amendment Enforcement Act

This bill is about restoring pay raises that Congress members didn't receive over the past few decades. Here's what happened: There's a rule that automatically gives members of Congress cost-of-living increases each year, similar to what federal employees get. However, since 1992, Congress has repeatedly passed laws blocking these raises from taking effect. The bill argues that these blocking laws actually violated the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which says that any change to congressional pay can't take effect until after the next election for House members. According to the bill's logic, by blocking raises before the next election, Congress violated this constitutional rule more than a dozen times.

To fix this alleged violation, the bill would restore all those blocked pay raises at once. It would calculate what members of Congress would be earning today if none of those blocking laws had ever been passed, and set their current salary to that higher amount. The bill gives the House and Senate administrative offices 60 days to figure out exactly how much money this represents and when the new pay rate should start.

In practical terms, this would mean a significant one-time pay increase for all current members of Congress—potentially tens of thousands of dollars per person, depending on how many years of blocked raises get restored. The bill doesn't propose ongoing changes; it's specifically about making up for past years. Whether this violates or enforces the Constitution is debatable, which is why the bill frames it as enforcing the 27th Amendment rather than simply giving Congress a raise.

27th Amendment Enforcement Act

Perlmutter, Ed

27th Amendment Enforcement Act This bill increases the annual rate of pay for Members of Congress by applying cost-of-living adjustments.