German Legislative Body Holds Session

Here's the Goods, Buddy:

Berlin (dpa) - The MP's paycheck? It's no chump change, my friend, with a sucka call it the "diet" - the Members of the Bundestag allowance - and escalating it ain't no walk in the park, mate.

Back in the day, an automated system swung into action - an annual adjustment, similar to pension hikes, but it's got its critiques too. This system needs an extension after each federal election, for the fresh legislative period, and the recent vote, led by the CDU/CSU, SPD, and the Green Opposition, passed with flying colors on Thursday night.

How much cheddar are we talkin' 'bout, pal?

As we speak, Members are pocketing 11,227.20 euros each month, taxable. Apart from that, there's a tax-free monthly aid of 5,349.58 euros to help 'em cover expenses related to their mandate, such as rent, materials, transport, hotels, lodgings, and Berlin pad prices.

The Bundestag tosses in some help for the business in Berlin (materials, phones for staff too), up to 12,000 euros a year, and Members can hop aboard trains for free, or get reimbursed for domestic flights that got to do with them doin' their job.

Seems like a hefty stack, huh? But let's dive into the whys and wherefores.

"Members got a right to a fair allowance that secures their independence," says the Constitution. The nitty-gritty is decided in the Members Act. Allowances are based on the incomes of judges at the highest federal courts. The allowance has to be "proportionate to the importance of the office, considering the responsibility and burdens involved and the rank of this office in the constitutional order," says the Federal Constitutional Court from all the way back in '75.

It's always been a touchy subject: If it's too low, fear of bribery lurks in the shadows; if it's too high, the criticism rolls in.

So, why's the Bundestag self-voting on their allowances?

This goes back to the Court's decision. They made it explicit that Members gotta decide for themselves, out in the open. "In a parliamentary democracy," the Court opined, "it can't be avoided that the parliament decides in its own affairs when it comes to setting the amount and the design of the financial regulations associated with the status of a member."

Automated adjustments, you ask? Got 'em since 2014, pal.

That was the call from the then-Grand Coalition, on the recommendation of an expert commission. Their leader, Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig (FDP), couldn't help but notice the heated public spats that broke out whenever the allowances went up: "Then politicians were referred to as 'greedy' and of 'self-service' by the parliamentarians." Ever since, there's been a political desire to automate these adjustments.

What's the feedback, chum?

The SPD and Union defend the automatism. "It's a logical approach, based on facts, to handle a very political and sometimes emotional question," said the Union's boss, Jens Spahn (CDU). In tough times, when the common folk saw their paychecks decrease, these allowances took a hit too. In '21, they even went down a kinda bit due to the Corona pandemic.

Criticism comes from the AfD and the Left, who both demand a suspension of the automatic adjustment. "Citizens don't understand why allowances go up before the parliament actually starts its work," griped Jan van Aken, the lead man of the The Left party in the Bundestag. The AfD's Stephan Brandner called for an open, annual debate in the plenary, arguing against automation.

*The policy-and-legislation surrounding the Members of the Bundestag's allowances is a subject of politics and general news, as the recent vote to extend the automated adjustment system after each federal election was passed.

*The criticism over the allowances is ongoing, with political parties such as the AfD and The Left demanding a suspension of the automatic adjustment system, arguing that citizens don't understand why the allowances increase before the parliament starts its work.