If a bill that Rep. Bill Owens is supporting were already law, he'd have never received his $174,000 annual pay in his more than two-year tenure in office.

The "No Budget, No Pay" bill (h/t Chris Morris at the ADE) would take away the pay of lawmakers if a budget wasn't passed. The last time a budget was passed was in April of 2009, and Mr. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, won his seat in November 2009.

Government-by-continuing resolution has reigned ever since.

"He believes it will motivate both parties to work together and pass an annual fiscally responsible budget," Owens spokesman Sean Magers told me in an electronic message.

While its chances are decent in the Republican House, the chances of it passing the Senate are about as good as the chances of a budget passing the Senate these past two-plus years.

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