House GOP Blasts Saslaw

House Republicans are attacking Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D) for refusing to reduce senators' salaries and expenses the way the delegates in the House did.

"We're fully capable of running the Senate, and they can run the House,'' Saslaw said.

In a recent letter to Saslaw, House Republican Caucus Chairman Samuel A. Nixon Jr. (R-Chesterfield) asked the Senate to reduce their salaries by two percent to bring them down salaries to $17,640 and a daily session per diem rate of $135. The Senate's per diem rate is $169. Saslaw told Nixon his answer this week.

"That's silly and grandstanding,'' Saslaw said.

Saslaw said the Senate already has taken the equivalent of a 40 percent pay cut in the last two decades, and that the Senate clerk has trimmed her budget.

Last month, House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) announced reforms and cost-cutting measures for the upcoming year that included cutting $1.1 million in operational expenses to help the state address a multibillion-dollar shortfall.