In an article in today’s Hoy newspaper, Tuesday 26 March, reporter Pedro Germosen points out that a senator in Congress brings home over 100 times the salary of a teacher who only works one session, and 48 times the salary of a teacher who works two sessions every day. The arithmetic is simple: Divide the monthly income of a senator (salary plus ‘incentives’ plus the “social fund” also known as the ‘little barrel’), which is RD$265,000 plus the social fund (an average of RD$965,000) by the RD$8,972 that is paid to a teacher for one session a day.
The senator “earns” RD$265,000 like this: Base salary-RD$125,000, expense account-RD$50,000, per diems-RD$25,000, housing allowance-RD$25,000, and bonuses for attending committee sessions of RD$3,500 each. The ‘social fund’ is administered by the senators to benefit poor people in their provinces and represents RD$1 per voter per month, and varies according to the population of the province.
The law has made it possible for legislators to vote for their own pay raises and benefits, which they have used for their advantage.