Catamarca is one of the legislatures with the largest number of personnel in the country

An investigation begun in February of this year revealed that the Legislature of Catamarca is one of those with the largest number of employees, with 3,103 agents under the category of regular and temporary employees. There are, on average, 55 employees for each of the 57 legislators (41 deputies and 16 senators). The figure is striking when compared to others such as the Buenos Aires Legislature, which has almost 2,000 fewer employees (1,145) and has more legislators (60). It even has twice as many employees as the Legislature of Córdoba, which in turn has 70 legislators. In addition, it was known that in Catamarca a senator earned $1,500,000 as of March of this year and a deputy, $1,300,000.

This is clear from a new investigation by the Ruido and Poder Ciudadano Foundation, which had the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and the Federalism and Freedom Foundation, which concluded that 90% of provincial legislatures in Argentina hide data on personnel hiring or fund management, among other key indicators for transparency about the operation of this State power.

For the survey, requests for access to information were presented in all provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, in which data on the number of personnel, salary levels, attendance records or reserved expenses, among 31 items, was required. Only three districts responded with complete information, and another six responded partially. The latter was the case of Catamarca: the Senate did not respond and the Chamber of Deputies tried an unsuccessful response.

Local diets

In searching for salary data, the provincial Legislature did not respond to questions about scales. However, it was known that the highest salaries were, as of March, those of senator ($1,500,000) and those of deputy ($1,300,000), while the lowest categories could receive $340,000. In the case of the deputies, the report detailed that each one administered, always as of March 2024, “subsidies” that are paid at the end of the month for $280,000 and had $600,000 of the so-called “block expenses”, which are monthly contributions that are updated at the rate of salaries and do not give up and are discretionary. In the Senate they have the same mechanics, but the amounts are unknown.

Other cases

There are curious cases like that of San Luis, where legislators receive each month an extra called “modules”, equivalent to a gross salary. Although these funds must be surrendered, there is no evidence that they will do so. That is to say that each month they receive, in addition to $1,400,000 in salary, another $1,400,000 for that concept. Something similar happens in Entre Ríos, where each legislator, in addition to the monthly allowance, receives an indeterminate amount of modules for contracts.

Quantity of employees*:

Catamarca 3,103

Chaco 2,300

Buenos Aires 1,850

Formosa 1802

Cordoba 1,583

CABA 1,145

Jump 1,061

Mendoza 982

Black River 805

Neuquen 610

Santa Cruz 561

Entre Ríos 507

T. of Fire 434

The Pampa 431

Chubut 396

San Luis 128

*Survey of the RUIDO Foundation, based on requests for access to information that were sent to all provincial legislatures. The data of those who responded and/or have accurate data are recorded.

A special case occurs in the Province of Tucumán: a court ruling denied information regarding the number of personnel to a constitutional lawyer in 2021, so an exact number of employees is not known. There are many speculations, but it is estimated that it could contain up to 30,000 people under different hiring figures. There are 49 provincial legislators there.