Congressman Wants Taxpayer-Funded Dorms

-Source-The Washington Free Beacon- Democratic members of Congress want taxpayers to subsidize their housing signing onto legislation that would allow them to deduct living expenses for members of the House of Representatives. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D. Miss.) introduced a bill that would ban members of Congress from sleeping in their offices and would change the tax code to allow House members to deduct their spending on housing in D.C. up to $3000. The deduction would not apply to senators. Thompson has also proposed turning a vacant building near Capitol Hill into apartments for House members at the expensive of taxpayers which critics have dubbed a Congressional Animal House. The taxpayer-watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste criticized Thompsons legislation and his proposed taxpayer-funded dorms. On May 16 2018 Rep. Thompson introduced H.R. 5845 the No Couches for Congress Act which would ban members of Congress from sleeping in their offices the group said. He also proposed converting vacant residence halls near the Capitol into affordable housing for members of Congress who make $174000 per year. He claimed that it would be available for members who found housing costs to be prohibitive. However the claim that housing is unaffordable is belied by the average monthly cost of a studio apartment in Washington D.C. which is $1602 or less than 10 percent of members annual salary CAGW continued. The average American spends 33 percent of his or her annual income on housing. The bill introduced by Thompson would prohibit congressmen from using their congressional offices for personal overnight accommodations. It would also amend the tax code to allow a deduction for living expenses incurred by Members of the House of Representatives. Text of the legislation changes section 162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which currently bans deductions for living expenses for members of Congress. The legislation amends the code to allow for up to a $3000 deduction for costs incurred while living in D.C. away from their home states. The legislation has 23 cosponsors all Democrats including James Clyburn (S.C.) Hank Johnson (Ga.) Elijah Cummings (Md.) and Marcia Fudge (Ohio).