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‘New budget will help the Legislative Bureau’
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Posted on Mar 22 2009
With the new Fiscal Year 2009 budget law, the Legislative Bureau will feel some sense of relief in terms of operational costs, LB director Glenna SP Reyes said.
Under the new law, the bureau’s budget is $1.37 million for personnel and $240,000 for non-personnel, for a total of $1.61 million.
The bureau’s budget had been under the continuing resolution at $1.8 million ($1.7 million for personnel and $105,000 for non-personnel). Subsequently, the budget was reduced to $1.4 million ($1.4 million for personnel and $89,000 for non-personnel) and further reduced in December 2008 due to declining revenue. In December, it was reduced to $1.38 million ($1.3 million for personnel and $80,000 for non-personnel).
“The initial reduction of our budget required the bureau to reduce salaries, which the bureau addressed in December 2008 when contracts of all administrative staff were renewed. The subsequent reduction of bureau funding called for further reduction in salaries, thus the reduction of all professional staff that was effectuated in February 2009,” Reyes said.
The additional funding for non-personnel was needed because $80,000 was not enough, she said.
“This amount was simply insufficient for operational expenses, so the enactment of the 2009 budget is a relief because the bureau will now have sufficient operational funding,” she added.
Because personnel funding is at the same level, restoring old salary levels is not an option at this time, she said.
Reyes said full time employee numbers have been reduced from 36 to 27 through attrition, with some positions phased out since 2008.
