Q COSTA RICA / The Luis Guillermo Solis administration has resuscitated an opposition party bill that would place a monthly salary cap ¢5.3 million colones at state institutions.
In the case where salaries already exceed that figure, some of which are more than ¢13 million colones, what the bill would do is put a freeze on them, that is there would be no raises, nor adjustments for inflation, reallocation, reassignment, annuities or any other salary bonus of any kind.
For example, a Supreme Court magistrate who now earns ¢9 million colones would keep that salary while on the bench, but if the judge retires or resigns, the salary of his or her replacement (named by the Legislature) would not exceed the ¢5.3 million.
Other examples of monthly salaries exceeding the cap are:
- Superintendent of Pensions: ¢10 million
- Presidente of the Elections Tribunal (TSE): ¢8,3 million
- Mayor of San Jose: ¢7,6 million
- Deputy Attorney General: ¢6,3 million
- Comptroller general: ¢ 5.9 million
- Director of Health Surveillance: ¢ 5.7 million
The text of the bill, as is the case with many bills dealing with amounts, caps the salary of all new public employee hires at 18 times the lowest base salary of the private sector.
The proposed bill caps the salaries of all public sector employees, including decentralized State entities and municipalities. But, it does not include State banks, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS).
The bill is expected to reach the Legislative floor during the current session.
Source La Nacion