Orrin Hatch: “my amendment delinks judges' salaries from our salary problem, because it is unbelievable how terrible it is in many…”

“my amendment delinks judges' salaries from our salary problem, because it is unbelievable how terrible it is in many parts of this country that judges do not have an annual COLA. That is what this will grant them. Mr. President, I am offering an amendment to establish a procedure for future cost-of-living increases in judicial compensation. This legislation is a portion of a legislative proposal prepared by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and which I introduced by request as S. 394 earlier this Congress. Under current law, salaries for Federal judges are currently linked to congressional and Executive Schedule salaries, so that Federal judges cannot receive cost-of-living adjustments [COLA's] unless Members of Congress and employees on the Executive Schedule receive the same COLA. As a consequence, Federal judges have not received a cost-of-living salary adjustment since January 1994. This amendment would amend section 461 of title 28 to end the current linkage between the judicial, congressional and Executive Schedule compensation. Instead, judicial salaries would be adjusted automatically on an annual basis, in the same percentage amount as the rate of pay of Federal employees under the General Schedule.”