House's CAO requests increase in members' allowance

The amount House members are allowed to spend on office supplies, franked mail and staff salaries may be about to take a big jump.

The House of Representatives' chief administrative officer asked lawmakers to raise the total pool for member administrative expenses by $90 million, or about 15 percent, according to Roll Call.

The Members' Representational Allowances, as they are known, range from about $1.4 million to $1.7 million for each office. The expense allowance is based on various factors, including the distance of a member's district to D.C. and the cost of office space in their home district.

In the 2008 calendar year, each representative was allocated $874,951 for up to 18 permanent employees, according to the Congressional Research Service. The rest goes toward rent, travel, supplies and other typical office expenses.

The request for an increase pointed to an increase in costs related to the election cycle as the reason for the increased budget. The Roll Call article lists a proposed 80 percent increase in franked mail costs due to extra mail sent by members to constituents in an election year.
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