How U.S. senators spend public money

CEDAR RAPIDS — Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin was the 15th biggest spender in the U.S. Senate for the year that ended March 31.

Harkin, who will retire in January after 30 years, spent $2.9 million, compared to the median disbursement of $2.6 million for all U.S. senators and $2.49 million for Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, according to new data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation and analyzed by The Gazette.

The vast majority of spending went into payroll, with each Iowa senator having more than 50 people on staff from April 1, 2013, through March 31, 2014. These rosters include full- and part-time employees ranging from chiefs of staff — who make close to $170,000 — to legislative correspondents making a few thousand dollars a year.

American taxpayers pay for Congressional spending, funded through Legislative Branch appropriations.

Senators receive an annual allowance based on their state's population and distance from Washington, D.C. So California senators had the largest allowance for fiscal 2014, at $4,685,316.

The lowest was Delaware, with $2,960,743. Iowa's limit is toward the bottom with $2,998,751 per senator.

'Each Senator can determine how personnel and expense funds are allocated within their allotment of funds,' said Donna Hoffman, an associate professor and head of UNI's Political Science Department. 'One Senator may choose to employ more staff and use fewer funds for travel or vice versa.'

U.S. House of Representatives members are limited to 18 employees, but senators aren't capped, Hoffman said.

Harkin and Grassley each had 53 people on their payrolls in the year that ended March 31. Some employees worked only part of the year.

Harkin paid his staff more, at $2.76 million, which was about 95 percent of his overall spending for the year. His five highest-paid employees were paid $695,232 combined, which was 14 percent higher than Grassley's top five employees.

Grassley has employees in D.C. as well as in Iowa field offices in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City and Waterloo.

'These experienced and well-regarded specialists focus on providing casework for Iowans, helping to cut red tape and get answers from federal agencies including the IRS, the (Veterans Affairs), the Social Security Administration, the State Department and Citizenship and Immigration Services,' Grassley said in an email to The Gazette.

Harkin has a D.C. office and five Iowa bureaus, in Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque and Sioux City.

'He does not believe most Iowans would consider the size of his office staff to be excessive,' Harkin's Communications Director Susannah Cernojevich said in an email, adding there are 17 Harkin staffers in Iowa and 21 in D.C.

'If anything, Iowans he hears from would like him and his office to deliver more, not less, on their behalf,' she said.

Harkin came much closer to tapping his full allowance of $2.998 million than Grassley, who ranked 67th among 100 senators for spending in the year that ended March 31.

Some state senators spent far less than they were allocated. Alabama's senior senator, Richard Shelby, a Republican and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, spent just $1.73 million, when he was allowed to spend $3.01 million.

An email to Shelby's office to see if there were reasons he spent less was not returned.

Not everyone believes senators need dozens of employees.

'What burns me is all those staff,' said Barry Hooper, 60, as he stood in front of the U.S. District Courthouse, which houses Harkin's and Grassley's Cedar Rapids offices. 'That's our money.'

Hooper and others in downtown Cedar Rapids were asked their views by The Gazette on Congressional spending.

Kelly Vulysteke, 50, has a problem with the wages paid to some political staffers.

'I have two sons in the military and they should be making that because they're risking their lives for this country,' she said.

'That's a lot of money,' agreed Aaron Sampson, 29. 'What do they spend that on?'

Sampson said he'd like to see some of that money used to improve transportation or serve better food at county jails and emergency shelters.

The critique of Congress is typical, with public approval at an all-time low, UNI's Hoffman said. But people typically like to communicate with their own elected officials and seek them out when they need help.

'We have to allow them reasonable expenses to come home to their state to interact with the people they represent, employ people to help them with their tasks, etc.,' Hoffman said. 'Senators and representatives are integral to our system of government.'

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