Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2016

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2016

This bill declares that, if there is a federal budget deficit in a fiscal year, then:

• any pay adjustment for Members of Congress scheduled to take effect under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 in the succeeding calendar year shall be null and void; and
• effective as of the first day of the first pay period beginning in that year, the rates of basic pay for Members shall be reduced (from the rate in effect), but not below zero, by an amount prescribed according to the following formula.

The reduction required under this Act is as follows:

• if the reduction is to take effect in a calendar year that does not immediately follow another calendar year in which a reduction was made, the reduced amount shall be equal to 5% of the rate of basic pay last in effect before the reduction is made; or
• if the reduction is to take effect in a calendar year that immediately follows another calendar year in which a reduction was made, the reduced amount shall be equal to 10% of the rate of basic pay last in effect before the most recent reduction was made.

If, following one or more years in which Members' pay is reduced, a fiscal year occurs in which there is no deficit, then, effective as of the first day of the first pay period in the succeeding calendar year:

• rates of basic pay for Members shall be restored to the highest rate at any time previously payable; and
• pay adjustments scheduled to take effect on or after that first day shall be effective.