A draft bill that would curb “double-dipping” was presented to the National Assembly on Monday, September 27 by the Independent Movement (Movin).

The draft seeks to repeal two articles of Law 37 of June 29, 2009, referring to paid leave for mayors and representatives of townships.

"We are shocked at the idea that there are people who are getting paid without working," said Annette Planells, director of Movin.

The initiative, presented at the Citizen Participation Office of the Legislative Branch, would incorporate an article that reads: “The repeal of articles 72 and 83 of Law 37 of June 29, 2009, is established, prohibiting any elected official from any type of leave, lost wages, regardless of whether they are public or private sector employees at the time of being elected.

According to Planells, this would automatically suspend the collection of paid leave.

Movin said in a statement that the spending of the State payroll has tripled in just 10 years, according to figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, "generating a constant expense that citizens assume with our taxes, without improving public services ”.

“This is even more serious when the pandemic contributed to a 15% drop in our country's GDP. Even when the country is slowly recovering, it is imperative that the national government practice the austerity that the country so badly needs at this time, ”said the organization.

Movin stressed that the double salary of civil servants is prohibited in article 303 of the Constitution and, although "it leaves the door open to special cases", it should be reserved for –for example– the exercise of university teaching, as is the case in most of the laws that govern public servants.

“However, the fact that mayors and representatives can have leave with salaries from public entities is a comfortable and whimsical interpretation of that article of the Constitution . This situation is aggravated by the indefinite reelection of these positions, allowing them to spend years, some even decades, accruing double salary from the State, while fulfilling a single function, "added the group.

In 2020, the Comptroller General revealed that a total of 30 mayors and 172 district representatives have paid leave, that is, they have double salary.

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