Dear Fassino, here is the real salary of parliamentarians
The salary of a parliamentarian can reach 17,625 euros gross per month if he is a senator and 18,735 euros gross if he is a deputy. That's how. The point of Truenumbers
The initiative by Piero Fassino (Pd) who yesterday showed the salary slip as a parliamentarian in the Chamber, aroused controversy, speaking of "unfounded commonplace" the one for which deputies have "golden salaries". The July slip showed a gross indemnity of 10,435 euros, from which Irpef, health care, deputies' social security (1,000 euros per month), regional and municipal surtaxes are deducted. And it showed at the end a net allowance of 4,718 euros per month. “A good allowance but not a golden salary” explained Fassino. Any benefits are to be added net, but linked to working activity and therefore technically not attributable to the salary of a single deputy. It is a monthly allowance of 3,500 euros ("which, as far as I'm concerned, I donate 2,500 euros to the national and Veneto Democratic Party to support political activities, using the remaining 1,000 euros to cover expenses for the parliamentarian such as season tickets, travel and initiatives” explained Fassino). “I did a truth operation. I told my colleagues that what we perceive is far from the disproportionate figures that are often communicated". This is how Piero Fassino explained to Tg1 the reasons for his protest. Does Pd secretary Schlein dissociate? “I had already said that I was speaking in a personal capacity”, adds Fassino. And when asked if he would do it again, Fassino expresses some perplexity: “I was naive. I thought it could be reasoned. Instead, in this country it has now become difficult to think". According to the latest available data, updated to June 2023, a worker in Italy receives an average salary of 29,500 euros gross per year, which corresponds to approximately 1,700 euros net per month, which means that the indemnity shown by Fassino is equal to almost three times an average paycheck (2.7 times as much to be precise). (Agi)
SALARY OF PARLIAMENTARIANS. THE POINT OF THE TRUENUMBERS SITE:
The salary of a parliamentarian can reach 17,625 euros gross per month if he is a senator and 18,735 euros gross if he is a deputy. As? Here are the real accounts.
Deputies get a gross allowance of 10,435 euros and senators 10,385 euros: more than the 8,757 euros of a MEP's salary , just to make a comparison. But the allowance, even if we are talking about the main one, is only one item of a parliamentarian's salary. As can be seen in the graph below, others must be added, starting from the per diem to the various reimbursements (some include the sums reserved for parliamentary collaborators), to reach over 17 thousand euros gross. For comparison: the average income of an Italian family is decidedly lower.
How much does an Italian parliamentarian earn?
In short, a deputy and a senator earn more than what is "officially" known, 12,439 euros net for a deputy and 12,544 euros for a senator . How come? Let's start with the main one, the allowance. Since January 2012, the net parliamentary allowance for deputies is €5,246.54 and €5,304.89 for senators. From here, however, the regional and municipal surtaxes are subtracted. And they vary, of course, according to the tax domicile of the deputy.
But it could be said that on average the net is around 5 thousand euros per month. Yes, because the gross is 10,435 euros and from here you have to remove the social security (pension and end-of-term allowance), welfare (supplementary health care) and tax (Irpef and regional and municipal surcharges) withholding taxes. On the other hand, for Members who carry out another job, the net amount of the allowance amounts to around 4,750 euros. Senators who work, on the other hand, go from 10,385.31 euros to 10,064.77 euros.
What is per diem
The first item of a parliamentarian's salary to be added to the allowance is the per diem. It is recognized as reimbursement of living expenses in Rome and is equal to 3,503.11 euros per month. However, 206 euros are deducted for each day of the deputy's absence. Here, but what is an absence? If a deputy participates in at least 30% of a day's voting, he is considered present.
A further reduction of up to 500 euros per month is also applied to the Chamber, in relation to the percentage of absences from the meetings of the councils, of the standing and special commissions, of the committee for legislation, of the bicameral commissions of inquiry and of the parliamentary delegations at international assemblies.
Senators also take a per diem. From 2001 to 2010 they took a good 4,003 euros per diem. The sum was then reduced to 3,500 euros starting from January 2011. Also in this case, "penalties" are envisaged for absences. And also in this case to become "absent" one must miss more than 70% of the day's votes.
Reimbursement of expenses and salary of a parliamentarian
Deputies also receive a "reimbursement of expenses for the exercise of the mandate" which has replaced the so-called contribution for expenses relating to the relationship between the elected and the voters. We are speaking, in substance, of 3,690 euros (after the reduction of 500 euros in July 2010). This refund is given in two ways. A part, which must not exceed half of the total, is given for specific expenses: collaborators, consultancy, office management. The rest of the amount is given at a flat rate.
Senators also have a reimbursement of expenses for the exercise of their mandate. Starting from March 2012, it replaced the pre-existing "contribution to support the activity of Senators", which was an entirely flat-rate reimbursement of expenses. The total amount, which has remained unchanged, is divided into a monthly installment of 2,090 euros – subject to quarterly reporting – and a further installment of 2,090 euros per month paid on a flat-rate basis. In exercising the mandate, not only the acts and obligations directly connected to the functions performed in the Senate and in the electoral district must be considered, but also "all the political, social, cultural initiatives that the senator undertakes as representative of the nation", it is law on the Senate website.
Transportation and travel expenses
Deputies benefit from cards for free movement of motorways, railways, sea and air for transfers within the national territory. For transfers from the place of residence to the nearest airport and between the Rome-Fiumicino airport and Montecitorio, a quarterly reimbursement of expenses of 3,323.70 euros is provided for the deputy who has to travel up to 100 km to reach the airport closest to your place of residence, and 3,995.10 euros if the distance to travel is greater than 100 km. The graph above indicates the monthly figure as 1,107 euros by dividing the minimum quarterly repayment by 3. For senators, a flat-rate monthly reimbursement is provided which replaces those of deputies for travel and telephone expenses. The senators thus take 1,650.
Furthermore, deputies have an annual sum of 1,200 euros available for telephone expenses. The Chamber does not provide deputies with mobile phones. Until 2014 the reimbursement for telephone expenses even reached 3,098.74 euros
Health care
The deputy pays monthly, into a special fund, a portion of his gross allowance, equal to 526.66 euros, destined for the supplementary health care system which disburses reimbursements according to the provisions of a tariff.
The Senate, on the other hand, has a Solidarity Fund which provides a partial reimbursement of certain health expenses incurred by members. Registration is compulsory for senators in office, who pay a contribution equal to 4.5% of the gross allowance. However, it is optional for pensioners, whose contribution is equal to 4.7% of the gross amount of their allowance. With the payment of additional fees it is possible to enroll family members.
How the end-of-term allowance works
The deputy pays a monthly portion of his gross allowance, equal to 784.14 euros, into a special fund. At the end of the parliamentary mandate, the deputy receives the end-of-mandate allowance, which is equal to 80 per cent of the gross monthly amount of the allowance, for each year of effective mandate (or fraction of no less than six months).
At the end of the parliamentary mandate, the senator receives an end-of-term allowance from the Senators' Solidarity Fund, which is equal to 80% of the gross monthly amount of the indemnity, multiplied by the number of years of effective mandate. This allowance is paid on the basis of contributions paid entirely by the Senators, from whom 6.7% of the gross allowance is withheld each month.
Data refer to: 2022
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/vero-stipendio-parlamentare/ on Thu, 03 Aug 2023 13:37:59 +0000.