Ricarda Lang breaks down all of her income on her website. A piece of information that seems to interest many. But when it comes to additional income, another Baden-Württemberg politician stands out.
How much does Green Party Federal Chairwoman Ricarda Lang’s income? If you want to know exactly, you can simply read it on their website. “As citizens, you have a right to know what I earn as part of my work as a member of the German Bundestag and whether I have any additional income,” Lang writes there. It is important to her to create transparency.
This disclosure is being picked up by many media outlets these days and is sometimes described as news. According to research by this editorial team, the information has been on the MPs’ website since at least February 2022 and has only been updated occasionally. It is unclear why the topic is coming up now. It’s quite possible that people are interested in the Green politician’s salary out of envy. Lang is regularly attacked with hostility. In recent weeks she has also been scolded at events, threatened and sometimes even prevented from passing through.
Diets of MPs
Ricarda Lang breaks down all of her income on her website. In addition to the MP’s compensation of 10,591.70 euros, which she receives gross monthly, she also receives tax-free reimbursement of 4,725.48 euros per month. This would cover costs such as rent, setting up and operating your constituency office, postage costs, conference fees, costs for hotels and other external appointments. This amount increased in January 2024: to 5,051.54 euros per month.
In addition, there is an annual amount of a maximum of 12,000 euros, which would be used to finance office supplies, devices such as laptops with accessories, writing instruments, stationery, the IT equipment of your constituency office, mobile phones as well as mobile phone and landline contracts. According to Lang’s website, these cash and non-cash benefits are intended to support her in her parliamentary work.
MPs ride trains for free
All information that Ricarda Lang discloses here can also be viewed online on the German Bundestag website. The MP’s compensation, which she is entitled to under Article 48 paragraph 3 of the Basic Law, is also mentioned, as is the flat rate allowance and the free train ticket that the Green MP lists.
MPs who earn more than 1,000 euros a month or more than 3,000 euros a year from a secondary job must disclose this down to the cent. The amounts are shown in the MP profiles on the Bundestag website listed. Aim of the transparency regulation: Voters should be able to see for themselves what possible interests representatives pursue and how independent they are.
MPs with high additional income
Ricarda Lang has no other income apart from her MP’s compensation and the flat rate allowance. This means that she is part of the majority in the Bundestag, but according to research by parliamentenwatch.de and Spiegel, almost four out of ten MPs have received additional income that must be disclosed since the 2021 federal election.
Several MPs reported additional income of more than 100,000 euros gross during this period. At the top is CDU MP Sebastian Brehm, who works as a tax advisor in addition to his work in the Bundestag. He is followed by Alexander Engelhardt (CDU), who runs a mill for organic grain and supplies, among other things, bakeries and animal feed producers, which also brings in a lot of additional income. This also applies to Ophelia Nick (Greens), who, according to the research, is in third place. It receives profit shares from two companies that hold shares in the Voith technology group.
Baden-Württemberg MP Judith Skudelny (FDP) is also among the top earners in the Bundestag. She works as a lawyer and insolvency administrator in Stuttgart and earned 265,565.54 euros gross last year alone. Secondary activities are not prohibited under the Members of Parliament Act, but the exercise of the mandate must be the focus of the activities of a member of the Bundestag.
2024-03-06 04:59:56
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