The office records of Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) show an anomaly that may have allowed the embattled congressman to skirt wage cap rules by paying a windfall bonus of $30,000 to his chief of staff.
Schock has faced nonstop media attention for his use of taxpayer and campaign dollars since The Washington Post reported on his "Downton Abbey"-inspired office. In the weeks since, his communications director has resigned for racially charged Facebook posts and Schock has paid tens of thousands of dollars back to taxpayers after scrutiny of his travel and other expenses.
For the first three quarters of 2014, Schock's Chief of Staff Mark Roman made $30,000 a quarter, or $120,000 annually. Records for the fourth quarter of 2014, however, reported that his salary payment had doubled to $60,000.
December bonuses are not unusual on Capitol Hill. Bonuses, however, must comply with the salary caps defined in House rules. The Members' Handbook says a staffer may not receive any more than the $168,411 annual cap, and also specifies the staffer may not receive more than 1/12th that amount - or $14,034 - in any one month.
That cap would allow Roman to receive only about $4,000 a month additional in bonus above his $10,000 monthly salary.
If the $30,000 additional payment came in December, his total compensation that month would be $26,000 above the limit. Even if the $30,000 additional payment was spread over three months, it would be too high by $18,000.
Schock managed to avoid the monthly salary cap by reporting that the $60,000 was salary Roman earned from March 1-Dec. 31, even though he had already reported Roman's salary from March 1-Sept. 30. No other salary payment in Schock's office showed similar backdating.
Since congressional office allowances do not roll over to the next year, the additional $30,000 paid to Roman otherwise would have been forfeited to the U.S. Treasury at the end of the year.
Schock's office did not respond to requests for comment.
Other salary payments by Schock have come under scrutiny. The progressive site Blue Nation Review questioned various final quarter pay raises, including to a staff photographer (an unusual position in a member's office) and an intern put on the payroll for $18,000 in the quarter, more than most of the rest of the staff earned.
Roman has worked for Schock since 2009 when he started as a legislative assistant. He came to the Hill in 2005 and held jobs with Rep. Nancy Lee Johnson (R-Conn.) and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.).
