Brady Authors Legislation to End Corporate Pay Grabs
Mar 30, 2009
Philadelphia --- Congressman Robert A. Brady (D., PA) has introduced a bill that he says will let the men and women who earn the least at financial institutions have some say in the awarding of compensation to top salaried executives. H.R. 1714 would require that the Board of Compensation Committees, mandated for financial institutions receiving assistance under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), include the representation of the financial institutions’ lowest paid employees.
Congressman Brady said he cannot think of any better person to rein in exorbitant executive compensation than an employee who understands the value of a dollar. “The people who are in the bottom 20% salary classification in these major financial institutions know what it is like to put in a year’s worth of hard work without the promise of a seven-figure bonus at the finish line. My hope is that these employees will serve as a stand-in for all of the American taxpayers whose hard-earned tax dollars have gone to stabilize these institutions, and will bring much-needed sense to the compensation of the executives that have accepted TARP funds.”
Congressman Brady said the recent AIG bonus scandal has left many in Congress searching for ways to limit the wasteful spending of TARP recipients who are supposed to be investing in the economy. “The Congress and the public were justifiably outraged that $165 million in bonuses was paid to executives using taxpayer funds when so many Americans are struggling every day just to get by. This pay-out was indicative of a systemic problem within the financial industry of rewarding executives for a job not-well done. Perhaps this entire debacle could have been avoided if someone who truly knows the value of $165 million had been able to bring some sense to the table when the decision to award these bonuses was first made.”
