Congressional and Senatorial representatives should be true representatives of the electorate that chose them.
Therefore, the State legislature should be in charge of paying for the elected official and their staff and any other allotments that are today being funded through the Federal budget. This eliminates Federal funding for representatives, eliminates conficts of interest, and truly makes the elected official a representative of their state’s interests. Congress would no longer be able to vote themselves a pay raise, as that power is moved back to the State Legislature (eliminates conflict of interest).
Each State would set a salary for their representative, as well as number of staff they are willing to provide, amount for allotments, etc…
Healthcare would be determined by the State Healthcare standard for State employees (the people they represent).
Retirement would be determined by the State Retirement standard for State employees.
All expenses/allotments would follow State standards for State employees as far as Meals/Entertainment, Travel, etc.
There is no need to have a Federal budget line for Congress. Each State would pay for their representatives (meaning the taxpayers in the State are paying for their voice in Congress). This eliminates Federal Tax dollars from being spent on Congress (a taxpayer in Maine isn’t paying for a Congressional representative from California, etc.)
In the event of a Federal shutdown, Congressional representatives would still be paid by the state and would be expected to continue to work towards a resolution.
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Please use the search function before you suggest a “new” policy There are over 50+ policies concerning congress pay, and it splits the discussion and limits the number of votes for each policy suggestion. I submitted a similar idea a month or 2 ago.