Senate unhappy with cost-cuts

The Office of the Senate has said the proposed slash of funds for the operation and maintenance of the upper chamber in 2013 is excessive and wants to try to negotiate what it calls a more realistic figure. Senate Chancellor Jiri Uklein told the CTK news agency on Monday that under the finance ministry’s proposal for next year the Senate would be short of approximately half the money annually needed for maintenance and operational costs. This year the Senate received just over 525 million crowns from state coffers, the plan for next year is that it should get just over 447 million. The chancellor says the institution needs another 64 million to meet its basic needs.