TSU lawmaker provokes skirmish over salary

A TSU legislator yesterday proposed cutting lawmakers' salary in half to refill the country's cash-strapped coffers.

But the proposal met immediate opposition from many colleagues, who claimed that their pay is already insufficient to cover the huge expenses incurred in performing their duties.

TSU Legislator Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君), who is asking her colleagues to sign a motion for a pay cut, talked about her proposal during the meeting of the Organic Laws and Statutes Committee where the legislature's budget for fiscal 2003 was presented for review.

In light of the fact that some legislators have proposed cutting the pay of political appointees and top government officials, Chien Lin said lawmakers should set a good example.

According to Chien Lin, in addition to a monthly salary of NT$170,000, each legislator is paid NT$140,000 per month in "constituent service fees" and another NT$300,000 for salaries for assistants.

She argued that a legislator should be able to make ends meet on a NT$85,000 monthly salary, instead of NT$170,000.

Senior DPP Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) said at least 98 percent of the legislators who are "serious about their jobs" would oppose the proposal.

Shen said, he has never brought "a single dollar" of his salary home and has virtually lived on the fees that he received for his appearances on TV talk shows.

Shen was referring to the fact that a lawmaker can only hire 10 assistants at most on a budget of NT$300,000, and extra assistants have to be paid for from personal resources.

In some cases, a legislator may hire as many as 20 assistants. But there are also extreme cases in which legislators have their relatives work as their assistants so that they can get extra money in addition to their salaries.

KMT legislator Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) called on colleagues who think they are earning too much to donate some of their salaries to charity groups.

Lee said there are less than 50 professional legislators in the 225-seat legislature now, and more and more legislators would become moonlighters if their salaries were cut in half.

Huang Teh-fu (黃德福), another KMT legislator, suggested that the legislature should upgrade its image, but he said that cutting the lawmakers' pay would not achieve anything.

The KMT legislative caucus yesterday proposed addressing the issue by amending the Constitution to half the number of legislative seats, which it argued would resolve the financial problem altogether.

Another matter that raised the eyebrows of legislators at yesterday's committee meeting was the "public relations and sociality fees" enjoyed by Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), which totaled NT$33 million a year.

Of the NT$33 million, NT$12 million is for expenses to attend to guests and the rest is for overseas visits and foreign guest reception.

Accusing Wang of using government funds for personal gain, PFP Legislator Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) proposed removing the NT$33 budget.

Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Hsi-shan (林錫山), however, denied the allegation, saying the speaker receives over 20,000 visitors and goes on two overseas visits per year "in the company of many legislators."