This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. Best Cities for Jobs 2020 NEW! We fact-checked the claims of those who sought to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic in the weeks prior to the 2020 presidential election. Almost every tasking had a same-day deadline. The Alamo City Trump Train Facebook Group appeared to have been used to organize the convoy's movements. Compared to CY 2015, this represents a 2.7 percent increase in the number of employees receiving student loan repayment benefits and a 3.0 percent increase in agencies’ overall financial investment in this particular incentive. Why have Americans become more supportive of gay marriage? Rather, expanding responsibilities and knowledge is what most Hill staffers are seeking, including the questioner, and advice was given as such. Legend:.css-1cjz1oj svg > path{fill:#0caa41;}Employer VerifiedNo Data. At this point, my biggest fear, frankly, was being able to support myself, as the salary was not at all generous. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, Congressional Salaries and Allowances, the allowances are provided to cover "official office expenses, including staff, mail, travel between a Member's district or state and Washington, D.C., and other goods and services." Employees enrolled in the program must count such assistance as income and pay taxes on it. A 2009 press release issued by the OPM about the student loan repayment program note that it was intended to make the compensation for positions public service more competitive with those of jobs in private industry: “The program is part of a directed effort for agencies to compete with the higher salaries offered in the private sector and maintain a highly skilled workforce,” said OPM Director John Berry. United States Office of Personnel Management. Before the American Civil War, members of Congress did not have staff assistance or even offices, and "most members worked at their desks on the floor.". Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. After a brief stint at a federal agency, I returned to Congress as a legislative assistant. Education: Congressional chiefs of staff tend to have college degrees, preferably in political science. All rights reserved. I was not too worried about maintaining a work-life balance, though, as I was very much the Type-A kind of staffer who was happy to put work above all else. Viral images of Exxon gas station signs were shared in October 2020, ahead of Election Day. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) walks with staff through Statuary Hall to a vote on Capitol Hill on Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington. Good matching for TSP. The House has averaged 138 legislative … Copyright 2020 CQ Roll Call. Senate offices will have more staff than House offices and more caseworkers and offices in the state, given the responsibilities for a whole state are more intense than a district, but the division of labor remains about the same. Hill staffers get health insurance, Metro benefits, books from the Library of Congress delivered to their door, underground parking, matching thrift savings plan contributions. The report also noted that the agencies making the most extensive use of student loan repayments did not include Congress but rather comprised “the Departments of Defense, Justice, State, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who between them accounted for over 88% of such expenditures: During CY 2016, 34 Federal agencies provided 9,868 employees with a total of more than $71.6 million in student loan repayment benefits. What did he actually say? Since I was permanent staff, the others in the office felt more comfortable showing me the ropes and trusting me with some basic research and legislative projects. I was still committed to providing good constituent services, but my skin had thickened a bit, and I was less nervous about the bad phone calls that left people screaming. Some congressional offices I worked with had 50 to 60 percent annual turnover! I just don't think it's fair," Kagen said he told the congressional staffer who reviewed the plan with him in 2006. The job is high-stress and high-volume and carries high expectations, even if 9 in 10 Americans think you and your members aren’t working at all (which doesn’t help morale much). During CY 2016, 88 percent of the cost of all student loan repayment benefits was provided by the U.S. The Federal Student Loan Repayment Program applies only to employees of federal agencies. Work experience: Before landing this position, individuals hold jobs in congressional offices, at federal agencies, in law firms, and in private businesses. Learn how to enable cookies. Your response will be removed from the review – this cannot be undone. What constitutes a “perk” is a matter of perspective, and a rewarding job tends to have quite a few. However, working with Congress from the outside—and as any semblance of comity there evaporated—I less and less romanticized about going back to working within the Capitol’s walls. … just where will all of it stop? During CY 2016, several Federal agencies utilized student loan repayments to significantly recruit and retain employees in positions related to nursing, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This question originally appeared on Quora. Federal agencies offer recruitment incentives for new hires … For my specific position the pay is the worst part of the job. The salary and benefits paid to the Senators and Representatives of the U.S. Congress is a constant source of public fascination, debate, and most of all, fake news. “President Barack Obama has highlighted the importance of recruitment and retention tools and asked each agency to do its part to ensure ‘this Government is as efficient as possible and that every taxpayer dollar that is spent is being spent wisely.’ We have many critical skills gaps in the Federal government and we need to use every tool in our tool box to bring the best service to the American public. The conditions are perfect this year for a werewolf sighting. A legislative director (LD)—just below the chief of staff in the hierarchy—leads a small team of legislative assistants (LA) who have diverse policy portfolios. Learn about United States Congress , including insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and vacation policy. I don’t begrudge them for this—all staffers know that their careers are tied to the fortunes of the members they work for and they’d be fools not to keep something on the back burner—but it does mean fewer and fewer are really taking the time to learn and invest in their issues, since they’re putting a few years’ limit on their careers. Answer by Carter Moore, former staffer in the House of Representatives: I was a staffer in the House of Representatives from 2005–2008, starting as an intern and ending as a legislative assistant before moving over to a federal agency as a liaison between the department and Congress until earlier this year. Are Congressional Staffers and Family Members Exempt from Repaying Student Loans. There was plenty of work to do and never enough time to do it; and as such, my days averaged between 12 and 14 hours when the House was in session. Most of these projects involved diving into the histories of previous legislation—where they failed and succeeded, who were the players, etc.—and developing background briefs on pending issues. Those might be apparently small things to be afraid of, but interns are utterly disposable; so if that angry constituent went on to complaint to the right (or wrong) people, or that bruised staffer on up, the job could be over very quickly. From here, there’s a splitting of functions: That’s the general layout. I’d leave work a lot of days being stressed by these negative encounters, and my worry was that I wouldn’t be able to soldier on. Critics of the president latched onto his use of the phrase "Joe's shot," in a speech in October 2020. Follow on Twitter, Facebook, or get Hill Navigator delivered to your inbox by signing up on the right hand sidebar under “SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL.”, The Source for news on Capitol Hill since 1955. Correspond using email with supporters. This work was routine and repetitive—not a whole lot of satisfaction aside from knowing how privileged I was to be working in the halls of Congress (which I’ll admit, is a damned fine privilege). It will be led by a district director (sometimes the same as the chief of staff) and a handful of casework specialists. It also meant that I ensured that I did even the most routine tasks with the utmost professionalism in order to demonstrate the kind of value I could provide to the office and the member if hired on as a professional staffer. Other positions in the Washington office include the communications director, a legislative correspondent (responsible for responding to constituent letters), the member’s scheduler, and some staff assistants and interns (unpaid or given a token stipend). All congressional staffers and family members are exempt from repaying their student loans. They are grossly underpaid. And you'll never see this message again. As noted in the page describing the Federal Student Loan Repayment Program on the website of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), federal agencies have discretion to make student loan payments — up to certain limits — on behalf of employees as a recruitment or retention incentive: The Federal student loan repayment program permits agencies to repay Federally insured student loans as a recruitment or retention incentive for candidates or current employees of the agency.

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