Lawmaker aims to shield congressional salaries from public

By AIMEE CURL

December 12, 2006

In the waning days of the 109thCongress, Rep. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., introduced a bill that would remove all information on House employees from public records.

The measure, dubbed the House Staff Privacy Act, comes just a few months after the launch of Legistorm, a searchable, Web-based database of staff salaries in both the House and Senate.

Staff salary records have long been available in document rooms in the Capitol, but now they can be easily perused and compared with just a few mouse clicks at www.legistorm.com.

Wicker’s spokesman, Kyle Steward, said the Web site is what prompted his boss’ interest in drafting legislation. Seward said Wicker plans to reintroduce the measure when the new Congress returns next month.

“While he is an advocate of the free flow of information, he does not think it adds to the public discourse to publish individual staff members’ salaries,” Steward said.

Legistorm founder Jock Friedly disagreed.

“Legistorm has been hailed by journalists and bloggers around the country as a valuable public resource. The fact that we have had millions of page views since launching this fall is evidence that there is a demand by the public for this kind of information,” Friedly said in an e-mail.

In a letter to House members asking for their support of the bill, Wicker noted that “many of our most treasured public servants like public school teachers and military service members are not subject to this type of exposure.

“In this age of identity theft and fraud, it is imperative that the House take steps to protect staffers,” he wrote. “I believe there is a better way to balance the need for transparency and protect rank and file staffers from a needless invasion of privacy.”

Friedly argued that transparency is critical.

“Congressman Wicker would do better to focus on the needs of Hurricane Katrina victims in his state than to try to prevent the disclosure of how he and his colleagues spend taxpayer dollars,” he said. “He is trying to prevent the dissemination of important public information by introducing this anti-Legistorm legislation.”

Friedly said feedback from Hill staffers so far has been mixed with some finding the site helpful for making the case for raises, while others have found it unsettling to have their salaries published.

http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2419185

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

corruption bump

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer