No Increase for JPAC, PM Considers Cutting Senators’ Stipend

As calls grow for stronger oversight of public spending, Prime Minister John Briceño is being pressed on whether the Joint Public Accounts Committee will receive additional funding in the next fiscal year. The committee, which now includes senators and has expanded powers to summon senior public officers, has been touted as a key accountability mechanism under the current administration. But with questions about whether it has the resources to do its job effectively, the Prime Minister says tough choices remain, pointing to limited budgets across government and even raising questions about how stipends are allocated within Parliament.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Remember we have done great changes in that we’re the ones that expanded that committee. We’re the ones that brought in the Senate, and we are the ones that have insisted that CEOs need to go and that whenever they’re called that they have to go to the JPAC. Resources are limited and every committee will tell you that they need more resources. Listen, what is being given paid – the stipend given to senators, I hope I’m not going to get into trouble, but we need to reconsider what they’re being given. They’re being given like sixteen thousand dollars a year and now they meet every month.”