STAFF NEWS: Another Report Finds Hill Aides’ Pay is Uncompetitive, Encourages High Turnover Rates

A new analysis of congressional staff compensation and working conditions concludes that such an environment “often renders a career in Congress a temporary pursuit or one that has to be supplemented by a part-time job.”

“From 2001 to 2019, median pay for staff in House offices largely declined. While the decline is not as dramatic for Senate staff, between 2001 and 2020, for example, the median pay for [a House] press secretary decreased by 23.35 percent,” according to the report published Thursday by the Alliance for Congress.

“The low pay makes living in an expensive city like Washington, D.C. challenging, and often leads to staff pursuing other, better-paying jobs. In 2019, the average tenure for staff on Capitol Hill was 3.1 years,” the report continued.

“The low pay and high turnover rate are, in turn, reflected in the ability of Congress to live up to its mission to serve the people it represents. It takes time to learn about the rules, procedures and the many complex issues on which Congress must legislate. When congressional staff leave their jobs, they take institutional knowledge with them, and their loss can hamper congressional effectiveness and institutional health,” the report said.

The Alliance for Congress is a new initiative of the Partnership for Public Service and describes its purpose as “fostering connections, sharing resources and highlighting the good work underway, we will bolster ongoing efforts to improve Congress, resulting in greater impact than any one person or organization would have acting alone.”

The report also emphasized the process by which the low pay offered congressional staff works as an incentive for aides to view their time working for a senator, representative or congressional committee as a temporary one and a ticket to much more lucrative work down the line.

Ticket To Big Bucks Elsewhere:

“After some time spent in Congress, many staff take jobs in the private sector where their skills are more highly valued. Research shows that former Capitol Hill staffers with several years of relevant experience can, within a year of switching jobs, make substantially more money by becoming lobbyists,” the report explained.

The report quoted an unidentified Hill aide as saying, “These people work long hours, have limited technological support and make little money.”

In addition, “studies in the private sector as well as the Partnership’s Best Places to Work rankings show that beyond pay, factors such as engagement and commitment to a mission are key to employee retention. Nonetheless, in the case of Congress, low pay is a central barrier to long-term service in Congress.”

Some Progress Being Made:

Fortunately, Members of Congress on the House side are beginning to move in a positive direction on these issues, most notably in the current appropriation for Members Representation Fund (MRA), the source of most aides’ paychecks.

As HillFaith has previously reported, there is a 20 percent boost in the MRA for Fiscal Year 2022, which would move the total closer to the previous high in 2010. Average pay for virtually all House staff positions has been declining since then.

Improving staff pay, benefits and working condition has been a primary concern for HillFaith from its beginning in 2018. For previous HillFaith coverage of this issue, see the following:

 

 

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