And now a hearty round of applause, if you please, for Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., who is pushing a bill whose time ought to have come. Basically, he wants to keep former Speakers of the House of Representatives from continuing to feed at the public trough long after they have stopped serving the public.
For the past 20 years taxpayers have supplied retired Speakers of the House with an office, staff, mailing privileges and an expense allowance. The objective was to help former speakers finish any leftover official business. But few things are as permanent as federal undertakings that were supposed to be temporary.Anyway, this fringe benefit currently costs almost $600,000 a year for three former speakers - Jim Wright of Texas, Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts, and Carl Albert of Oklahoma. Each ex-speaker gets three staffers. Staff salaries alone this year will cost $398,000. Ouch!
Taxpayer-financed retirement benefits aren't unusual for high-ranking elected officials. The president and vice president also get a free office and staff after they step down. But as Rep. Goss notes, it's the House as an institution that's important, not the individual appointed as speaker.
Wisely, Goss' bill - which has 50 co-sponsors - would put a time limit of three years on taxpayers supplying former speakers with an office and staff.
The three ex-speakers won't comment on the bill. But don't feel too sorry for them if it passes, forcing them to phase out their tax-financed operations. Their annual pensions, $114,199 for Albert, $96,304 for Wright and $75,112 for O'Neill, should help them get by just fine.