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Posted by Keturah Hetrick on Sept. 11, 2023 The House continues to put a higher proportion of its official expenses toward staffer pay, even as personal offices struggle to use up their official budgets. In the first half of the year, the average personal office used 38.78% of its total annual budget, according to a LegiStorm analysis of the House's latest spending data. Of those expenses, 79% went toward staffer compensation. Staffer pay accounted for 77% and 74% of all personal-office expenses in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Despite staffer pay taking up a higher proportion of funds, offices are using a smaller proportion of their budgets than they did before the 2022 Members' Representational Allowance increase. Including expenses that were reported late, offices spent an average of 89% of their budgets in 2022 and 95% in 2021. This year, the average personal office is on track to use only 78% of its annual budget - leaving the average office with more than $430,000 in unspent funds that could have gone toward greater staffer compensation. Some people and organizations who "caught our eye" last week:- Abbas Alawieh, Chief of Staff, Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) (former staffer) – So-So
Family man doing what he can - J.P. Dowd, Chief of Staff, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (former staffer); Syd Terry, Chief of Staff, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) (former staffer); and Marc Goldberg, Chief of Staff, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) (former staffer) – Bravo!
Ka-ching! - Mairéad Lynn, Communications Director, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) (current staffer) – Uh oh!
Mass mailer
Hill Departures - Lily Douthitt, formerly Senior Legislative Assistant to Rep. James Comer (R-KY)
(now Legislative Liaison at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture - Avery Gardiner, formerly Chief Technology Counsel to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN
(now Global Competition Policy Professional at Spotify) - Alexandra Bell, formerly Democratic Communications Director/ Senior Adviser to the House Budget Committee
(now Deputy Associate Communications Director at the Office of Management and Budget) - David Heitlinger, formerly Legislative Director to Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
(now Government Affairs Professional at Atlantic Strategies Group)
Hill Moves and Promotions - Sam Satterfield, now Communications Director to Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)
(formerly Deputy Communications Director) - Jocelyne Barajas, now Legislative Director to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX)
(formerly Legislative Assistant) - Kate Durkin, now Chief of Staff to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
(formerly Legislative Director)
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