Last 'Perpetual Legislator' Passes Away — 18% Preferential Deposit Ends! NT$2.297 Billion Spent Over 31 Years

The 18% preferential deposit subsidy for first-term senior central civil representatives has officially come to an end. According to the latest report from the Executive Yuan's Personnel Administration Bureau, the last surviving senior National Assembly delegate, Hung Wen-shan, passed away at the end of May 2025, resulting in zero budget allocation for related expenses in 2026. Statistics show that from 1995 to 2025, the national treasury spent over NT$2.297 billion.

The first-term central civil representatives, including National Assembly delegates, legislators, and control supervisors, were elected in late 1947 to early 1948. After the Nationalist government relocated to Taiwan, their terms were extended due to the inability to hold elections in their original constituencies. They did not fully retire until the end of 1991, serving over 43 years, which led the public to dub them the 'Perpetual Congress.'

How did the 18% preferential deposit originate?

The 'Voluntary Retirement Act for First-Term Senior Central Civil Representatives' was enacted in 1989. Retired representatives were subsequently granted preferential 18% deposits at the Bank of Taiwan, modeled after civil servants. The report notes that this benefit lacked clear legal basis at the time, and the interest rate differential between the preferential rate and standard deposit rates was covered by the national treasury.

Originally, related funds were separately allocated across the National Assembly, Legislative Yuan, and Control Yuan. Starting from the 1996 fiscal year, the Executive Yuan's Personnel Administration Bureau took over unified budgeting.

Peak of 489 recipients

In the 1995 fiscal year, a total of 489 retired National Assembly delegates received the subsidy, with expenditures reaching NT$251.037 million—the highest annual amount on record. Since then, the number of recipients has declined annually: 88 in 2007, 8 in 2017, and only 2 in 2020.

From 2023 to 2024, only Hung Wen-shan remained eligible to receive the benefit. After his passing at the end of May 2025, the actual expenditure for that year was NT$372,000, marking the end of this 31-year-long subsidy.

Which group of representatives ended first?

All first-term senior Control Yuan supervisors passed away by 2006, and subsidies ceased from the following year. Senior legislators had all passed away by 2022, with no budget allocated from 2023 onward. With the National Assembly portion now zeroed out, subsidies for all three categories of senior central representatives have fully phased out.

The Personnel Administration Bureau stated that budget allocations for the preferential deposit interest differential have been discontinued, marking the completion of the government's 'phase-specific mission to care for senior central civil representatives.'