Minnesota Senate bumps up their per diem

Posted at 12:31 PM on January 10, 2007 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

AP has the story

Senators up maximum daily allowance by $30
By BRIAN BAKST Associated Press Writer
ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota senators boosted their maximum daily expense checks by 45 percent, bringing to $96 the allowance members can use for meals and incidental costs. They also bumped up the monthly housing allowance by $300, or one third.
The cost to taxpayers depends on how many senators collect checks - it's at their prerogative to get the allowances. But Sen. Dennis Frederickson, R-New Ulm, estimated that the tally could reach $200,000 a year.
For members who take the full per diem amount, the change enables them to draw $13,440 this year. They can take per diem payments seven days a week while the Legislature is in session, which is due to run 140 days in 2007.
The $30 raise and the extra lodging amount were approved by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee on a voice vote with no audible dissent. The action doesn't require any additional approval.
The House hasn't decided on its own per diem plan. That chamber set it at $66 in 2005.
Senators defended the hike, noting that the daily allowance hadn't gone up since 2001 and the lodging rate wasn't touched since 2000.
"It's reasonable to expect that members be reimbursed for reasonable expenses," said Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis.
Pogemiller said he doesn't consider the bump to be a backdoor pay increase.
House and Senate salaries have been stuck at $31,140 since 1999.
The housing checks go to members whose regular homes are at least 50 miles from the Capitol. They can rent apartments or stay at hotels and receive lodging reimbursements for their actual costs. The new monthly maximum is $1,200, an amount that is paid out year-round. Twenty-eight of 67 senators now collect the allowance, and 11 senators had rents that exceeded the old $900 maximum, Pogemiller said.
Frederickson said the Internal Revenue Service has pegged daily Twin Cities expense costs - both lodging and meals - at $177 in an index the IRS publishes. Combined, the two new rates total $132.75 a day.
"We want that amount to be high enough so citizens of ordinary means can afford to come and serve in the Legislature," he said.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-01-10-07 1323EST

Comments (1)

If you vote DFL in Minnesota you must like being abused.

Posted by Carole | February 16, 2008 10:26 AM

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