Legislator Otto Guevara, head of Partido Libertario, urged to reduce the payroll of the Legislative Assembly because, according to him, it is excessive and it needs to cut costs.
The request was made during a hearing that the Committee on Financial Affairs allowed Antonio Álvarez, Congress president,to deliver in order to present the legislative budget 2017.
The legislator suggested that the Legislative Board reduces, from 5.86 to 4, discretionary places assigned to each legislator from April 30th, 2018, last working day of the current Congress.
None of us can claim anything because we will not be affected and the next legislators have not been elected yet. We need to think about it and the same Board can raise it,
declared Guevara.
In addition, he suggested to involve the Ministry of Planning in this review to determine whether the number of staff working there is justified and what should be the number of staff.
Álvarez pointed out that the budget 2017 for the Congress is 34,813 million colones, which is equivalent to 0.39% of the total amount of the proposed national budget 2017.