It's time to spend more on building legislative capacity
Legislators are not allocated enough funds to properly pay their staffers, a well-documented problem that leads to constant turnover at the mid and senior levels as the private sector lures some of the best policy minds away. It’s a vicious cycle: Elected officials, aware of their association with a deeply unpopular legislative body, don’t want to be seen “wasting” taxpayer dollars increasing staff salaries, and while congressional capacity isn’t the only reason why people are dissatisfied with Congress, the lack of capacity certainly contributes to public disappointment.
[…]If you’re a Legislative Correspondent making $70,000 a year, it’s hard to pass up a private sector job that could pay double that. Legislative Directors make significantly more, but by that point, we’re talking about mid-career professionals with even more lucrative opportunities outside of Congress. And it’s just not reasonable to ask these staffers to stick around for the love of the game.
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