Senate President Juan F. Cristo on Thursday said that Colombia’s congress is not content with the reductions in salary after a recent court decision stripped them of two premiums, lowering their pay from $12,000 to $8,900 for the month of September.
MORE: Colombia court ruling lowers congress salary for month of September
“The congressmen are not content with salary reductions,” said Cristo. “To say they are happy would not be consistent with reality.”
The lowered payment came after a small impasse leading to a delay in paychecks after the court ruling stripped premiums for members of congress.
Senator Armando Benedetti said the salary reduction was having a negative impact on the Congress, which has had a problem with absentees lacking a quorum to vote on health reform.
While Cristo dismissed allegations that the salary struggle had anything to do with failing to meet the minimum number of Congressmen necessary to vote on the legislation, he admitted that at the last minute he did order the payment of one of the premiums for those congressmen who could prove they were living in Bogota.
Senators, unhappy with their less than unexpected pay, were pleasantly surprised with new tablets and smartphones upon entering their office this week.