SENATE APPROVES MEASURE LOWERING, EXPANDING CAP ON TAXPAYER SUBSIDIZED CONTRACTOR PAY

The Senate has approved lowering the cap on taxpayer subsidized compensation for contract employees and expanding the cap to cover all defense contractors.

The language is included in the Senate's version of the Defense Authorization Bill.  The cap would be lowered from $693,951 to $400,000, meaning no defense contractor would be paid more with taxpayer funds than what the president currently earns.

The bipartisan measure was introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and co-sponsored by Al Franken (D-MN), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jon Tester (D-MT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

The American Federation of Government Employees, which for years has been calling attention to runaway contractor payments, thanked the lawmakers for their diligent efforts to get the measure approved.