[ad_1]
reThe Democratic Republic of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refuses to say whether it will submit its Congressional salary of $ 174,000 to the ceiling of $ 80,000 set by its staff.
Many attempts have been made by the Washington Examiner for comments from the New York congressman's office on compliance with the ceiling she has set in order to pay her low-paid employees an appropriate "living wage" of $ 52,000.
But his office refused to answer and it does not appear that Ocasio-Cortez herself offered publicly to limit her income, even if by donating to a charity the difference between his congressional remuneration and his term limit.
If it does not, it will continue to collect more than double its employees.
Congressional staff salaries account for most of the Members' Representation Allowance (MRA) of each office. MRAs, which, according to the Congressional Research Service, averaged $ 1,368,520 in 2018, are also used to cover other office expenses and postage paid expenses.
The Congressional Handbook for the House of Commons prohibits the use of personal funds in franked mail, but it indicates that any other money spent on their MRA stipend will be paid out of members' personal funds.
Ocasio-Cortez has called to increase Congress MRAs so that offices can pay higher wages to the most disadvantaged staff members.
His office's salary ceiling of $ 80,000 is far below the average salary of the chiefs of staff of Congress ($ 154,634) and the maximum salary of $ 177,292 authorized by law. Former representative Dan Lungren, who chaired the House Administration Committee and was responsible for the budgets of the House offices, Washington Examiner the salary ceiling for Ocasio-Cortez staff could lead to a high turnover rate.
Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez's 33-year-old chief of staff, could, however, benefit from the cap, as it allows them to circumvent legally imposed financial disclosure requirements to staff members earning more than $ 126,148 per year. year.
Chakrabarti is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who bought a $ 1.6 million home in Montgomery County, Maryland last June. A complaint filed with the Federal Electoral Commission on March 4 alleges that he improperly channeled $ 1 million worth of PACs that he founded to two private companies he controlled. Companies are not subject to the same reporting requirements as PACs.
Ocasio-Cortez's salary was called into question during the partial closure of the government earlier this year. Even though she had called for the suspension of congressional salaries before taking office, it was unclear whether Ocasio-Cortez had joined dozens of lawmakers who had publicly announced that they would lose their salary or give them their salary at the time of their election. the closure.
"It is totally unacceptable that members of Congress can force the government to close its doors so that Congressional salaries are exempted from this decision," Ocasio-Cortez said in December 2018. tweet. "Have some integrity."
"No congressman, Democrat or Republican, should receive a paycheck when the market closes," she said. tweeted in January 2018. "Solidarity is essential to leadership."
But Ocasio-Cortez refused to answer a question the day she took office about the loss of her salary during the closing of the office. She replied to the New York Post: "I have to leave!" His name was not on an earlier list of legislators promises to waive their salaries.
The New York congressman said in November that she was worried about paying rent in Washington DC for three months after her election. She now lives in a luxury apartment complex in Washington, DC, which does not offer affordable housing to the poorest people, which was a key part of her campaign platform.
She did not respond to requests for comments from the Examiner about whether she took her salary when closing.
[ad_2]
Source link