The controversy surrounding a proposal to decriminalize the use of legislative assistant funds has continued to intensify. Advocates of the proposal say they are simply “fine-tuning the system to make it more flexible.” These efforts are being promoted in the name of reform — but in reality, they are merely an attempt by legislators to drain public funds into their own private coffers.
As the director of the Legislative Assistants Union, I must ask: Do legislators truly possess such extensive authority? Is it true that if they want to take public funds for themselves, they only have to propose an amendment? Do they think the public is completely clueless?
The salaries of publicly funded legislative assistants, research expenses and office budgets are, in essence, the blood, sweat and tears of the nation’s taxpayers. The money is not anyone’s “personal budget” or “funding for their pre-election campaigns.” These funds exist to allow representatives to supervise the government and properly serve their constituents — not to manufacture sham assistant positions, salary kickbacks or engage in other gray-area practices.
All the more ridiculous is that some legislators speak as if the legislature were their own backyard. Take Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) as an example. Chen, who initiated the proposed changes, has repeatedly brashly intervened in a number of issues — from the central budget to staffers’ salaries — in a manner that has raised public suspicion. Is she truly acting on behalf of her constituents in Kinmen County, or does she see herself as Kinmen’s “queen,” treating the legislature as her fief and public funds as her personal budget?
In these instances of “creative” use of public funds, legislative assistants are always the weakest link — their names appear on the payroll, but they do not actually earn much. Their working hours are stretched to the limit, yet they are told that is “just the nature of political work.” In the event that something goes wrong, they are the first to be blamed, with their bosses saying: “That was due to an assistant’s negligence.” Each time a legislator shifts public funds for private use, legislative assistants are pushed in front of the firing line.
The Legislative Assistants Union — along with the majority of legislative assistants — supports improving laws and abolishing harmful legislation. We demand that regulations be amended to enhance transparency, as well as increase oversight and accountability, but not to make public funds easier to manipulate or make it harder for legislative assistants to protect themselves.
If the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party truly act as overseers, they must clearly address the culture of salary kickbacks and sham assistant positions. The Democratic Progressive Party — which claims to champion reform and labor values — must not be silent on this issue.
Legislators do not have the authority to pocket public funds, legislative assistants are not political ATMs and the government budget is not an election fund. The next election would be the public’s chance to settle the score.
Kuo Chien-kuo is the director of the Legislative Assistants Union specializing in political and economic research.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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