# Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Cannot Afford to Move to Washington **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 9, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263 "2018-11-09T21:47:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/101 "2018-11-11T16:57:48Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [According to the National Conference of State Legislatures](http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/legislator-compensation-2018.aspx), the base salary of state legislators in most states is \<$25K/year. (In addition to the base salary, most states give their legislators a per diem to cover food and lodging costs during the legislative session.) State legislative sessions typically last a couple of months, which makes it a challenge to hold down most other jobs if you’re serving in a state legislature. > > I ran into this roughly a quarter-century ago when I briefly contemplated running for state legislature in Virginia, where I lived at the time. The contemplation was brief because it only lasted until I looked up what Virginia paid its legislators - at the time, it was around $10K. (Now it’s in the upper teens. Whoopee!) > > You just can’t get a legislature that looks like the electorate while paying those sorts of salaries. Which means that the interests of people of limited means will be largely overlooked, because most state legislators don’t know what it’s like. The situations that such people face aren’t even on their radar. In Colordao I think it’s 30k per year so the only people who can run are the independently wealthy or those that can take significant time off work. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/102 "2018-11-11T17:05:23Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > They all need to have a primary residence in their home district. But if their home district is close enough, they don’t need a second home in DC. I was trying to avoid the trap of just saying “all” and then having someone come in and correct me. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Of course, in most districts, the cost of living is a wee bit less than NYC. I live in the SF Bay Area, so I’m unaware of what inexpensive housing is all about. 🙂 But yeah, and this is something they all know going in. Consider it a weeding out process-- if you can’t figure out how to make it work, you don’t belong in Congress. And I don’t say this about AOC. She made an off-hand comment for an article and some folks here are acting like she’s a typical whiny millennial. I’m sure there are millions of Americans who would love to have this “problem”. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/103 "2018-11-11T17:15:11Z")
Are there spots in the Capitol parking lot for RVs? Rent/lease an RV and drive it around the block every 48 hours to avoid any time limits. Or I hear Walmart allows overnight parking in their lots. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/104 "2018-11-11T17:30:30Z")
> [@dba\_Fred](#): > > Are there spots in the Capitol parking lot for RVs? Rent/lease an RV and drive it around the block every 48 hours to avoid any time limits. Or I hear Walmart allows overnight parking in their lots. Have you been to DC? The Capitol isn’t like a suburban Walmart with a massive parking lot. Driving in DC is awful, and I wouldn’t want anything larger than a Prius. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/105 "2018-11-11T17:32:37Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > If my private employer was able to pay for cross-country relocation and two months of temporary housing when I signed on, you would think the U.S. Government could do the same for a member of Congress. I’m fortunate enough to be in an industry where skilled workers are in high demand right now, but I’m also not remotely in any kind of leadership position. Is that for everyone, including Mitt Romney? Or is this a new welfare program for Congress? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/106 "2018-11-11T17:40:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wait. The DC metro area is more expensive than the NYC metro areas (which is where she lives now)? Is she in some rent controlled area or something? Anyway, I don’t see her “complaining” about anything. She’s just noting something about her personal situation. BFD. My rent estimate is for Capitol Hill near her work and one of the more expensive neighborhoods, her district in NYC is not in city center. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/107 "2018-11-11T17:56:38Z")
And come to think of it, if Congress were to decide to provide subsidized housing for Members, if it would be anything better than a minimum security halfway house there would be a hue and cry and moaning and gnashing of teeth all over the land as to what a scandalous privilege that is, and how dare they vote on public housing issues when they are beneficiaries, etc., etc. (They will not create a single point “congress barracks” because of the fact that it would mean creating yet another large security target in a city that has enough of them already.) [aside] > [@John\_Mace](#): > > She made an off-hand comment for an article and some folks here are acting like she’s a typical whiny millennial. Hating on AOC as a symbol of everything wrong with the left or millennial politicians is in fashion. [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/108 "2018-11-11T18:08:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But yeah, and this is something they all know going in. Consider it a weeding out process-- if you can’t figure out how to make it work, you don’t belong in Congress. And I don’t say this about AOC. She made an off-hand comment for an article and some folks here are acting like she’s a typical whiny millennial. > > I’m sure there are millions of Americans who would love to have this “problem”. Well, the way she probably figured it out was a bunch of Dem help. I’m sure any new Dem would get some support but the new darling of the left probably had a lot of offers. I bet an independent would have a lot more figuring to do. The optics of giving them money wouldn’t fly but you could easily have a system where new members have an option of getting a $5-10k salary advance which gets deducted from their first term paychecks. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/109 "2018-11-11T18:53:42Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > …her district in NYC is not in city center. Wait. We HAVE a city center? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/110 "2018-11-11T21:38:36Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Is that for everyone, including Mitt Romney? Or is this a new welfare program for Congress? Sure, why not? The cost of relocating members of Congress would be a miniscule drop in the bucket for the Federal government. My employer didn’t ask whether I was independently wealthy (I’m not) before offering to pay for my move. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/111 "2018-11-11T22:17:55Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Sure, why not? The cost of relocating members of Congress would be a miniscule drop in the bucket for the Federal government. My employer didn’t ask whether I was independently wealthy (I’m not) before offering to pay for my move. I was offered a relocation package the first and only time that I had to move to a new city for a job. It was standard practice for engineers to get that. I went from being a starving grad student to my first real job so it was the cheapest relocation package ever. Everything I owned fit in a cargo van. They just had to pay for the rental and gas. It was like $75. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/112 "2018-11-11T22:50:29Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I was offered a relocation package the first and only time that I had to move to a new city for a job. It was standard practice for engineers to get that. I went from being a starving grad student to my first real job so it was the cheapest relocation package ever. Everything I owned fit in a cargo van. They just had to pay for the rental and gas. It was like $75. Things have changed a lot since 1962. 😉 My wife’s last moving package paid fully for the actual movers plus about 5 grand for extra expenses. It was moving between countries-- their lawyers handled all the paperwork. Outside of all that, they paid to ship her car to the new city, another 3 grand at least. This was for a job that pays less than a Congressman. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/113 "2018-11-12T02:38:19Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > My rent estimate is for Capitol Hill near her work and one of the more expensive neighborhoods I don’t know where most actual legislators live when they’re in town, but I doubt most people working in the Capitol or neighboring office buildings live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. 45 min gives you a pretty wide radius. And most young people I know living in the District itself just rent a room, not a full, private apartment. So I’d ease up on the rent estimate. Although that’s beside the point – as others have pointed out, the issue isn’t what she does in January, it’s that she will have expenses until then and she’s not allowed to do what most normal people would do to try to cover them. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/114 "2018-11-12T05:18:27Z")
Id guess the plurality live around Capitol Hill. Besides $2,500 was the monthly rent support that was proposed in legislation that didn’t pass last year, so it seems like a good Number. Both the UK and France give their legislators stipends to cover rents in their capitals. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/115 "2018-11-12T13:12:07Z")
A quick check on Zillow shows apartments for under $2k/mo within walking distance of the capitol. Under 1.5k and even around 1k if you go farther out but remain in DC. But again, even if we provided stipends for current legislators, that doesn’t solve the problem she actually stated. As for UK, a quick Google tells me salaries of £77k, so a stipend makes sense. Here it does not unless the salaries come down. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/116 "2018-11-12T13:14:01Z")
Apologies if someone already posted it, but here’s what legislators make in each state: [https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/senators-and-representatives-salary-by-state-democrat-republican-2018-1](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/senators-and-representatives-salary-by-state-democrat-republican-2018-1) Starting at $100/year in NH and maxing out at $97k in CA. Note that in many states this is a very very part-time job. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/117 "2018-11-12T15:06:08Z")
She is obviously being selective about which neighborhoods she will live in. Draw whatever conclusions you like about how this squares with her ideology and image. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/118 "2018-11-12T15:13:12Z")
Why draw conclusions when you have already offered us a perfectly good insinuation? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/119 "2018-11-12T15:47:36Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > She is obviously being selective about which neighborhoods she will live in. How do you draw this conclusion? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263/120 "2018-11-12T15:53:10Z")
It’s like how Algore refuses to live out in a shack down by the river proves that he doesn’t really believe in global warming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cannot-afford-to-move-to-washington/824263.md?page=7)