Members of Congress would be allowed their first pay raise since 2009 under an emergency funding bill that lawmakers hope to pass by Dec. 20.

The legislation, which is intended to keep the government running until March 14, includes a provision allowing the automatic pay increase to take effect. Lawmakers must pass the measure this week to avoid a government shutdown.

Under a 1989 law, members of Congress are supposed to receive automatic, annual cost-of-living adjustments. However, fearing political backlash from voters, they have repeatedly inserted provisions into the government’s funding bills to prevent the increase from taking effect.

The year-long wage freeze has made it less attractive for many to run for office, critics say. Approval of the raise could add to complaints from conservatives who say the emergency funding bill is bloated and that lawmakers already make far more than the average American.

Currently, lawmakers earn $174,000 annually, with salaries higher for those in leadership positions.

House members initially tried to pass a pay raise in a budget proposal last summer, but later blocked the increase. Senators also included the measure to block an increase in their funding bill last summer.

It is “detrimental to our democracy that we are creating a scenario in which middle-class Americans cannot afford to sit in Congress,” Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) said in July after lawmakers took action on Maintaining freezing had suggested place.

The 1,547-page government-maintaining bill includes a number of policy additions, including more than $100 billion in disaster relief.