TITLE: The Public Servant and Servicemen’s Living With Dignity Act
PROBLEM(s):
The Hashemite royal family ruling Jordan is made up of just 82 individuals. Nonetheless, their lifestyle is too expensive to maintain, especially when the state pays for it out of their general fund budget. As a result, impoverished Jordanians pay for the royal family’s nonstop global travel, private jets, lavish places, yachts, designers’ clothes, luxury and collectable cars and wild association and partying with the rich and famous around the world. This lifestyle robs the general fund of much needed funds for projects that benefit the people, and has resulted in wide-spread poverty, and a non-stop economic crisis with Jordan’s public debt hitting almost 100 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. This has resulted in staggering poverty rates in Jordan, hitting public servants, educators and servicemen and women the most. With salaries as low as USD 350 for teachers and soldiers, those men and women serving the public are left out starving and unable to provide to their families.
EXAMPLE: Recent
In recent years, the King of Jordan has made several promises to increase their pay. The best he did was an occasional USD 70-150 grant to soldiers and a 50 percent pay increase to teachers which was never paid.
To make matters worse, Jordanian teachers are protesting in the streets for their rights, faced by police oppression and physical assaults by the king’s thugs. At the same time, they are all expected to perform their best to serve the country. This has resulted in bad government performance and a deteriorating efficiency of the public sector. Even worse, the Middle Class has disappeared, stalling economic cycle and driving Jordan’s economic crisis even worse, with no sign of care or change of lifestyle by the Hashemite family. Too add insult to injury, educators have been arrested, their credentials revoked and they have been saddled with criminal records that will hinder their ability to find work.
PROPOSED SOLUTION: Specifics
- Pass legislation that grants calculation of a minimum wage;
- Earmark the minimum wage to rate of inflation, so when wages remain at part with the economy;
- Restrict the Royal Family’s access to unlimited funds;
- Establish a minimum standard of living for a family of 4;
- Introduce a new universal minimum wage based on research not political whims;
- Increase the country’s budget by $5 billion, with that money being used to:
- Expand public employee wages;
- Create public works projects;
- Hire people to work on those projects;
- Provide all Jordanians with a one time $1,000 (one thousand dollar) grant
- Adjust tax codes to reflect these new provisions.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT:
- Public employees
- The Military
- Educators
- International Lenders
- Economists
POSSIBLE OPPOSITION:
- The king himself and the royal court which has access to billions of dollars with no accountability or transparency. This bill will challenge their pay and corruption and allocate the money to deserving Jordanians and not the corrupt royal family.
- Corrupt corporate entities who are affiliated with the royal family (or owned by it), who insist on paying Jordanians below a survival minimum wage, exploiting them as cheap labor.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: This measure will
- Secure Jordan’s economic prosperity while creating a positive, functioning economic cycle;
- Secure Jordanians’ confidence in their country and economy while enhancing consumer confidence;
- Increase the efficacy of teachers, public servants and hence the efficiency of the government as a whole;
- Would improve the morale and efficiency of the Jordanian military through the satisfaction of Jordanian servicemen and women;
- Save money because it will better allocate the budget spending towards the necessary aspects and not the king’s lifestyle and that of his corrupt family;
- Provide more money for public works, health, education and military projects because this measure will enhance transparency and efficiency as funds will be allocated to a large sector which is public pay rather than being loose and uncontrolled, preventing the king from using the country’s budget as his own personal bank;
- Enhance the pay and the disposable income of Jordanian government and military staff, while stimulating the economy and creating jobs;
- Expand consumer purchasing power, jump starting the Jordanian economy;
- This measure will help bring Jordan in line with today’s modern economies.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:
- Jordan does not have the money for this;
- Implementing this legislation may be difficult to approve for foreign creditors;
- Because of constitutional issues, questioning the king and the royal family’s finance is out of the question;
- The Royal family who will no longer be allowed to use the Jordanian general fund as their personal bank account(s)
HISTORY:
- No such proposal has ever been introduced in the Jordanian parliament for fear of arrest, imprisonment, torture and possible death.
FISCAL EFFECT: This legislation will:
- Save Jordanians money by questioning expenses and protecting elected officials, allowing them to review and ask questions – providing transparency to the public;
- By opening up the ‘books’ and allowing for investigations, Jordanians will be able to negotiate with international bodies for fair rates, as well as the ability to renegotiate current liabilities;
- More money for public servants means less governmental expenses, means less taxes and a smaller government, and smaller governments stimulate their economy.
SECTION AFFECTED: As Per Legislative Council
LANGUAGE ATTACHED: Specific Language: No. Structural Language: Yes. This act should be designed using the following concepts:
- Section 1: Intent
- The purpose of this legislation is to increase the standard of living for those employed by the Jordanian Government
- Section 2: Public employees covered under this act include, but are not limited to:
- Anyone who is pay by a government entity for wages;
- Anyone who serves in the Military;
- Anyone who is a credentialed Educator;
- Anyone who is classified as a public service employee;
- Section 3: Definition of public employee
- A public employee is anyone who receives a pay check for services rendered by the Jordanian Government
- Section 4: Enactment Date:
- This act takes place 30 days after passage
- Section 5: The Royal Families Salary
- The Royal family shall receive $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars) a year for services rendered;
- All expenses for their services shall be paid for out of this sum;
- The Jordanian budget shall.
- Section 6: Grant
- All civil servants, as defined in this act, shall receive a $1,000 (one thousand dollar) grant;
- This grant is not taxable.
- Section 7: Commission
- The Jordanian Legislature shall establish a Blue Ribbon Commission that will, within 365 days, hold hearings and establish a minimum wage for the general public, Public Service Employees, Educators and the military;
- The Commission shall be funded with $1,000,000 to undertake the duties as established by this act;
- The Commission shall establish standards based on establishing a minimum standard of living for a family of 4;
- Section 8: Consumer Price Index
- All wages shall be tied to the Jordanian Consumer Price Index;
- Each year, on the first of the year, wages shall increase based on the exact figure as established by the Consumer Price Index;
- Section 9: Budget
- The Jordanian Budget shall be expanded by $5,000,000,000 (five billion dollars);
- The money expended under this act shall be earmarked to undertake the creation of public works projects and the hiring of new public employees;
- Section 10: Tax code
- Adjust tax codes to reflect these new provisions.