Dan Maffei awarded his staff almost $200,000 in extra pay and bonuses when he lost the last election.He paid these bonuses with taxpayer money. He did this as he shut down his congressional office after losing the November 2010 election. He acted as if this money were his own according to The Post Standard.

Maffei’s aides received up to $18,000 per person in extra pay in the fourth quarter of 2010, with some earning bigger bonuses than their salary for the quarter, according to Maffei and expense reports filed by his office.

Dan Maffei, stood out from his House colleagues because the former Central New York congressman raised his staff’s fourth-quarter pay by some of the highest percentages in Congress..

Out of the 434 House members in office at the end of the year, Maffei had the sixth-highest percentage increase in payroll compared to the first three quarters of 2010, according to LegiStorm, a Washington, D.C., organization that tracks congressional financial reports.

Maffei’s fourth quarter payroll for full-time staffers increased by 91.4 percent compared to the rest of the year. Only five other House members had a larger percentage increase.

Maffei, said he understands some people will be critical of the payments. But he said he stands by his decision to compensate a loyal, hard-working staff.

“I could understand how someone would see it and say that it is not deserved,” Maffei said. “If that is going to harm me politically, so be it. But I think my staff deserved it.”   -Post Standard Article March 11, 2011