6 Things Members of Congress Get for Free That Floridians Pay For
A member of Congress can mail a signed letter to every household in their district and never buy a stamp.
That’s the franking privilege, a perk Congress created for itself and kept.
A Florida resident sending that same letter has to buy an 82-cent Forever stamp first.
These are the things members of Congress get for free that Floridians have to pay for.
Note: This is general information about federal benefits and cost comparisons, not financial, legal, or insurance advice. Program rules and dollar amounts are subject to change.
1. Skipping the TSA Line
Congress lets its members skip the security line that every other airport traveler has to stand in.
Airports across the country route members through faster, separate checkpoints instead of the main Transportation Security Administration (TSA) queue.
No PreCheck membership required.
An ordinary traveler pays $85 for five years of that same shortcut.
The Senate voted unanimously in March 2026 to end the practice, though the bipartisan bill still needs a House vote before it becomes law.
2. Free Legal Bill Drafting
The Office of the Legislative Counsel writes every bill a member of Congress introduces, and never sends a bill for it.
That includes amendments and conference reports, all drafted under an attorney-client relationship.
No invoice follows.
A Florida small-business owner who wants a contract drafted from scratch pays a lawyer $353 an hour on average.
A single bill can run past a hundred pages, and a private attorney bills for every one of them.
3. Congress’s Research Team on Call
Congress’s own research team works like a private consulting firm on retainer, courtesy of taxpayers.
The Congressional Research Service works exclusively for Congress, producing nonpartisan research and legal analysis on any question a member raises.
A member can ask for a memo on a foreign treaty, a tax loophole, or a hurricane insurance law and hear back within days.
Free every time.
A Florida entrepreneur who wants that kind of research pays a private consultant by the hour, the same steep rate an attorney charges.
Congress never sees a bill for it.
4. Postage-Free Official Mail
Congress’s mail never needs a stamp.
The franking privilege lets a member sign their own name in place of postage on anything tied to official business.
Campaign mail doesn’t qualify, and neither does a holiday card.
Off the table.
A Floridian mailing that same letter needs an 82-cent Forever stamp for every single envelope.
Legislative branch funds reimburse the Postal Service for every ounce, year after year.
5. Free Parking at Reagan National
Congress hasn’t had to pay for parking at Reagan National Airport in years, based on the most recent reporting on the perk.
A member could flash a government ID at the garage cashier and walk out without paying a cent.
For decades, the perk included a private 89-spot lot just steps from the terminal, roped off for Congress, the Supreme Court, and the diplomatic corps.
Construction closed that lot in 2017.
General free parking held on.
A Florida traveler parking at Miami International pays $12 a day in the economy lot, and more than double that for anything closer to the terminal.
Psst! How much do you know about Congress’s people and history? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
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6. Free Flu Shots
Every fall, Congress sets up flu-shot stations right inside the Capitol.
Anyone with a congressional ID can walk up and get a flu shot in under five minutes, members included.
No appointment.
No bill.
An uninsured Floridian pays $46.46 to $68.99 for that same needle at a pharmacy, depending on where they go.
Walmart charges the least of the major chains, at $46.46.
CVS charges the most, at $68.99.
Taxpayer-Funded Health Coverage
Members of Congress don't carry some special government-run health plan the public can't buy.
Members buy coverage on the District of Columbia (DC) Health Link exchange, the same Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace federal employees in Washington use.
The government still pays its share as their employer, covering 72 percent of the average premium, the same formula used for every federal worker's health plan.
Not the member's cost.
What Congress's Health Coverage Is
Congress doesn't get a private health plan closed off from everyone else.
A member buys the exact same DC Health Link plan any federal employee in Washington can buy.
The only edge is the employer contribution, worth 72 percent of the average premium.
A Florida resident shopping the ACA marketplace alone has no employer picking up that share.
Buying that same coverage alone costs a Florida resident the full premium, with no employer picking up part of it.
Depending on the county, that runs $281 to $484 a month even with a tax credit.
That share never comes out of a member's paycheck.
A Year's Salary After Death
Congress guarantees its members' families a payout many Florida workers never get.
If a member dies in office, Congress has traditionally paid their spouse or children a full year of that member's salary through a special appropriations measure, at no cost to the family.
For a rank-and-file member, that's $174,000.
No forms.
Congress has paid out more than $5 million in these death gratuities since 2000.
Many private employers in Florida offer nothing like it.
A worker's family collects only what that worker set aside themselves, through a 401(k) balance or a life insurance policy they paid for on their own.
Inside the Capitol Clinic
Members of Congress get their own walk-in clinic for a price no insurance plan can match.
The Office of the Attending Physician charges members $650 a year for physicals, on-site X-rays, lab work, and physical therapy.
Specialist referrals to nearby military hospitals cost nothing extra.
Not one copay.
Congress designated $4.2 million to fund that office in one recent year. Navy doctors and nurses staff it, and taxpayers cover the bill, not the members.
An uninsured Florida patient pays $199 on average for one urgent care visit alone, let alone a specialist.
One flat fee covers a member's whole year.
A Bigger Match Toward Retirement
Congress's retirement plan carries an employer contribution no private Florida company comes close to.
The federal government contributes between 13.1 percent and 22.2 percent of a member's salary toward their pension, depending on when that member joined.
A regular federal worker's match sits closer to the low end of that range.
Congress set the bar higher.
Private employers nationwide average a 4 percent to 6 percent match on a 401(k), when they offer one at all.
Many Florida workers get no match at all.
A private-sector worker who wants that kind of guarantee has to build it themselves, one paycheck at a time, with no one matching the difference.
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