Senators Propose Closing State Offices to Save on Budget

[The Northerner]

There may be no better example of how bloated the government is than the number of offices each senator has. First, there’s a senator’s official Washington office in one of three massive buildings on Capitol Hill, especially busy during the 153 days the Senate is scheduled to be in session this year. Add to that a myriad of committee offices. And many senators have hideaways tucked in the Capitol’s corners, where they can hold private meetings with colleagues and constituents or sneak a nap, lunch, or respite. And then there are the 460 state satellite offices.

Back-of-the-envelope math puts the total number of Senate offices at close to 700 for its 100 members. And those 460 state offices are expensive to rent and maintain: $40 million, or nearly one-fifth of the $219 million budgeted to run all Senate offices. That’s why Sen. Ben Nelson, the Nebraska Democrat who chairs the legislative branch panel of the Appropriations Committee is thinking about closing some of those state workrooms as he attempts to impose a 5 percent spending cut to prove the Senate means business in slashing the deficit. “It’s something that needs to be looked at,” Nelson tells Whispers. “There are some economies to be achieved.”

His Republican colleague, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, agrees. Pruning senator’s budgets “may mean that you don’t have as many offices in your state.”

Terrance Gainer, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, says closing down state offices would also lead to savings in IT expenses and other office goods. “I’d ask them to take a look at that,” says Gainer.“We all ought to feel the pain so as we go to kind of zero-based budgeting or zero-based running a state, how many offices do we need?”

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/05/31/senators-propose-closing-state-offices-to-save-on-budget

[buczak]

1. Back wards

I think they have it backwards. They should close their Washington DC offices and just work from their states.

[Blue Owl]

2. You'd think the corporations they serve have some empty office space

from all the jobs that have been outsourced.

[KamaAina]

3. Easy to do in Nebraska or North Dakota

But where do you put the one office in California? LA? SF? Sac?

[LynneSin]

10. You don't, you share with the representative

Each senator would have one office in the state, probably in the capitol or most populated area of the state.

Then each of the representative offices would be satellite offices for the senators.

[KamaAina]

11. I should have added Delaware to that list

:-)

[Donnachaidh]

4. Hey Nelson -- how much can we expect you to give back from YOUR salary?

It should be at LEAST 5 per cent, right?

Because closing those offices put PEOPLE out of work -- why don't you try cutting some overgrown salaries and goodie perks for the Senate? You really don't NEED the leased cars or the gas allowances, bro. And that's just for starters....

[buddysmellgood]

5. Is North Dakota even open?

[former9thward]

6. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

So I guess you will have to find another state to slam.

[GeorgeGist]

7. Republicans are working hard building ....

3rd world States, right here in America. Democrats are working hard making sure the rich have plenty of money to invest in these new States. Soon we'll be able to bring those jobs home that went elsewhere.

[crazylikafox]

8. They don't need offices in their States since their only real constituents are on K Street in DC

[LynneSin]

9. Here's an idea - Senators should use the same office as the representative

I mean you already have a representative with an office in each of the district - why can't the senator use those as satellite offices. Then the Senator can have one office in the state.