{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://hern.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=270", "Hern joins bipartisan, bicameral letter urging adoption of No Budget, No Pay in year-end omnibus", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "House", "OK", "Kevin Hern", "H001082", "hern.house.gov", "hern", "https://hern.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Representative Kevin Hern (OK-01) joined a bipartisan, bicameral letter to House and Senate leadership urging inclusion of the No Budget, No Pay Act in any end-of-year budget discussions and government funding legislation.\n\nThe No Budget, No Pay Act incentivizes Members of Congress to pass a budget by withholding pay until the budget is completed.\n\n\u201cNo Budget, No Pay is something my constituents have heard me talk about over and over for the last two years,\u201d said Rep. Hern. \u201cIt\u2019s a common-sense idea that if Congress doesn\u2019t do our job, we shouldn\u2019t get paid. In business, I don\u2019t pay employees to sit around and do nothing \u2013 that\u2019s a sure-fire way to get terminated. In Congress, however, there are very rarely consequences for Members who refuse to do their job. This letter has support from Senators and Representatives on both sides of the aisle; this kind of unified support is not something you see often in Congress. I hope our leadership understands the gravity of this moment and the importance of getting our country back on track with a budget.\u201d\n\nThe letter was also signed by:\n\nSenator Rick Scott (R-FL)\n\nSenator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA)\n\nSenator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)\n\nSenator Mike Braun (R-IN)\n\nSenator Ted Cruz (R-TX)\n\nSenator Steve Daines (R-MT)\n\nSenator Joni Ernst (R-IA)\n\nSenator David Perdue (R-GA)\n\nRepresentative Jack Bergman (R-MI)\n\nRepresentative Vern Buchanon (R-MI)\n\nRepresentative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)\n\nRepresentative Mike Gallagher (R-WI)\n\nRepresentative Lance Gooden (R-TX)\n\nRepresentative Ralph Norman (R-SC)\n\nRepresentative Scott Perry (R-PA)\n\nThe letter can be found here and below.\n\nDecember 3, 2020\n\nThe Honorable Mitch McConnell\n\nMajority Leader\n\nUnited States Senate\n\nThe Honorable Charles Schumer\n\nMinority Leader\n\nUnited States Senate\n\nThe Honorable Nancy Pelosi\n\nSpeaker of the House\n\nUnited States House of Representatives\n\nThe Honorable Kevin McCarthy\n\nRepublican Leader\n\nUnited States House of Representatives\n\nDear Congressional Leadership:\n\nAppropriating funds is the most basic duty of Congress, but for the past 40 years, Congress has cut corners by passing short-term spending bills \u2013 Continuing Resolutions \u2013 that just keep government funded at existing levels. Washington\u2019s dysfunction has also led to multiple government shutdowns, which hurt Americans. Even members of the Coast Guard went without a paycheck during the last government shutdown, all while members of Congress continue to get paid.\n\nAs we finalize negotiations on Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations, we urge you to include No Budget, No Pay legislation as part of any end-of-year spending package. No Budget, No Pay simply says that if Congress cannot work together to fund the government, they should not be getting paid. Hardworking Americans across the country are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus, yet members of Congress will still get paid if they fail to do their most basic job of funding the government.\n\nThis proposal has bipartisan support and has already moved through Congress. It was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in June 2019, and is included as part of the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act (S. 1877).\n\nWithholding paychecks from members of Congress who fail to pass appropriations is an important step to prevent government shutdowns, which hurt the economy and millions of everyday Americans. But it\u2019s also an important step to promote fiscal responsibility.\n\nIf Americans failed to do their jobs, they would be held accountable. The same should be true of Congress. We look forward to continuing to work with you to make important reforms so Washington works better for all Americans.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-28T00:42:23Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://hern.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=270"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0214750654995441, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}