Ban Congress’ Honorariums, Pay Panel Says

WASHINGTON —  The presidential commission that sets top federal salaries will recommend a ban on members of Congress accepting honorariums from special interest groups, according to a draft report made public Tuesday.

To help compensate for the loss of extra income, the Commission on Executive, Legislative and Judicial Salaries, which must submit its final report to President Reagan by Dec. 15, is also expected to recommend a substantial increase in the congressional salary, currently $89,500 a year. The draft report makes no specific salary recommendation, however.

The proposal to ban honorariums is expected to spark an emotional debate in Congress early next year. In recent years, such payments have become an important source of supplemental income for members of Congress, whose occasional pay raises are unpopular with many voters.

Senators and representatives received nearly $10 million, or more than 20% of their total compensation, in the form of honorariums from special interest groups in the last year.

Under current law, a member of the House may accept outside earned income equivalent to 30% of the annual salary, or $26,850, and a senator may accept the equivalent of 40% of salary, or $35,800. Although no single fee may exceed $2,000, there is nothing in current law to prohibit accepting more than one fee from a single group.

Critics of the system say that such fees, once paid strictly for speeches, lately have been used as a way of putting money directly into elected officials’ pockets and that some lobbies now pay members of Congress just for showing up at an event or visiting a resort.

“The potential for abuse is obvious to the public, and public faith in the integrity of the members it elects is threatened by the steady growth of this practice,” the commission’s draft report said. “Only a substantial increase in official salaries, coupled with a total prohibition on the receipt of honoraria, can correct the problem.”

The report noted that, even though Congress has received eight pay raises since 1969, the purchasing power of members’ salaries has declined 65% in constant dollars and the cost of living has risen 225% since that year.

In addition, the commission recommended that, once honorariums are banned, Congress should abolish other loopholes in the law that could allow acceptance of other forms of direct payment--such as consulting fees or excessive travel expense allowances--from special interest groups. It added that the ban should extend to congressional staffs, whose members are not covered by the current rules.

After receiving the commission’s report, Reagan will have until Jan. 9 to make a recommendation to Congress that would determine the pay of all top federal officials, including that of the President.