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LegiStorm Brings More Transparency to Congress
TweetSeptember 20, 2006
Hill staffers' salaries are now available online at LegiStorm.com. "I think this will add a health amount of transparency to how Congress spends taxpayer dollars," said Jock Friedly, a former Capitol Hill investigative reporter, who founded LegiStorm. LegiStorm.com is a creation of LegiStorm LLC, a company based on Capitol Hill. Its sister company, Storming Media LLC, is the leading provider of Pentagon documents, including technical and military strategy papers. While the information has always been available in printed congressional books, this is the first time that lawmakers' aides salaries are available on the internet.
The Washington Post found that the limit on salaries is approximately $162,000 a year. The highest-paid staff members work for the House and Senate appropriations committees, where approximately one-fifth make more than $150,000 a year.
First launched yesterday, the site crashed by noon. Wonkette observed that the site should "revolutionize who-buys-who beers at Hill happy hours." Some of the lower salaries can be considered factors that might deter the country's best and brightest, while also making the revolving door more appealing for those who choose to work as a Legislative Assistant for approximately $45,000 a year.
At the time of publication, Mandy Smithberger was an investigator for the Project On Government Oversight, focusing on Department of the Interior oversight, including oil and gas royalties. Mandy also covered national security.
Authors: Mandy Smithberger
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