Taxpayers will benefit from having one party in control of the state Senate, Republican leaders said Thursday.The two-year power sharing in the Senate cost taxpayers more than $800,000, said Sen. Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, Senate president pro tempore designate.
"We are very pleased that we will be able to implement significant savings for the taxpayers,” Coffee said.
"As public servants, it is important that we serve as good stewards of the taxpayers’ money by improving efficiency and finding savings.”
Republicans won control of the Senate in the Nov. 4 general election.
Now with Republicans in control, Democrats will have one executive assistant and two staff members to assist party leaders, the same staff levels Republicans had when they were the minority party before the 2006 elections.
Coffee said Senate staff also will return to a three-tiered pay scale for executive staff. Staff members who work for a member of the Senate leadership often got paid more.
In some cases, staffers who received a pay increase kept that rate, even after their boss lost power.
Staff members who fall into this category could see their pay cut.
"That will impact people on both sides of the aisle,” Coffee said.
The changes will take effect in January, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment