Working on the minority staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee comes with one very big perk: an iPad.

Democratic leaders of the panel recently gave employees the tablet computer designed by Apple, HOH has learned. The cost of the gadget starts at a whopping $399.

Leave it the House Energy and Commerce Committee to be on the cutting edge of technology.

“This was to help staff be more efficient and to allow them to go paperless,” says Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for the committee’s minority.

While staffers may be enjoying their new toys, not everyone is pleased. One tipster complained to HOH that the iPads were a waste of taxpayer money.

“While they are slashing government jobs and spending … they have decided to buy all staff iPads,” our tipster fumes.

Lightfoot was uncertain how many iPads had been distributed, though she noted staffers got the original model, not the fancier iPad 2 released last week.