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Senate Passes Bill Cutting Per Diem Bill for Nashville Area Legislators

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Senate has passed a bill to eliminate hotel allowances for lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the state Capitol.
The proposal sponsored by Republican Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin was approved on a 28-2 vote on Thursday. The measure would eliminate the $107-per-night hotel payment for Nashville-area legislators, though it would provide for daily mileage allowances instead of weekly ones.
The legislation would continue to provide a $66 daily meals allowance for all lawmakers.
The House approved its version on a 71-15 vote earlier this month, but would have to approve a technical change made by the Senate before the measure could head for the governor’s signature.
Annual savings are projected at more than $250,000.

House Approves Cut in Per Diem Expense Payments for Nashville Area Legislators

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The House approved 71-15 Monday evening a bill that would – if the Senate agrees – reduce automatic daily expense payments to legislators living near Nashville by $107 per day.
“I find it hard to look constituents in the eye when they ask, ‘Why we paying you 107 a day for a hotel you don’t use’,” said Rep. Rick Womick, R-Murfreesboro, sponsor of HB80.
Legislators now get $173 per day as an automatic “per diem” daily expense allowance. The bill eliminates $107 of that – the amount calculated to cover the cost of a motel room – for those whose residence is within 50 miles of the state Capitol building. They would continue to receive the remaining $66, deemed the amount needed for meals, and would collect mileage from the state for commuting daily.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner of Nashville criticized the proposal, saying the 50 mile rule was arbitrary and unfair. Womick said that is the standard set by the Internal Revenue Service, which considers the payments as taxable income for legislators living within 50 miles.
In fact, Womick said a secondary advantage was the IRS would collect less in taxes from the affected legislators, including himself. He said about $45 of the $107 he has been collecting has been “sent straight to Washington.”
The companion bill has been stalled in a Senate committee for weeks after Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said he wants to consider an amendment that would instead require legislators to submit an actual motel bill receipt for reimbursement.
Rep. Johnnie Turner, D-Memphis, also criticized the bill, saying legislators, regardless of where they live, do not receive enough for their work. She quoted Gov. Bill Haslam as saying at a recent reception for legislators that he calculates legislators actually are paid about 50 cents an hour for their labors.

House, Senate at Odds Over Bill to Cut Per Diem Payments?

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Republicans in the House and Senate appear at odds over a proposal to reduce the amount of money lawmakers living within 50 miles of Nashville get as a daily expense allowance.
The House State Government Subcommittee approved Wednesday the bill (HB80) as filed and sponsor Rep. Rick Womick, R-Murfreesboro, promised to reject any amendments. In the Senate State and Local Government, meanwhile, the bill has been delayed to consider an amendment proposed by Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro.
As introduced, the bill would reduce the automatic “per diem” expense payment by $107 per day – the amount calculated to cover the cost of a motel room in Nashville. Lawmakers would still get $66 per day that is attributed to meals and other expenses, plus mileage for commuting.
Ketron said in the Senate committee that he has heard of a lawmaker, living more than 50 miles from Nashville, “milking the system” by sleeping in his office to avoid a motel bill. He suggested the bill be amended to instead require all lawmakers to file receipts for their motel for payment by the state.
But Womick told colleagues “you have my word” that no such amendment would be accepted. That came after Rep. Shelia Butt, R-Columbia, expressed concern that the bill could become a “slippery slope” with revisions that with paperwork requirements “could grow to cost more than the savings.”
Legislative staff estimates that the bill would save taxpayers about $250,000 per year.

Bill to Reduce Nashville Area Legislators’ Per Diem Delayed

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A proposal to eliminate hotel allowances for some Tennessee lawmakers was put on hold Tuesday after a state Senate committee member said the reimbursement rules should be tightened for the entire Legislature.
The original bill filed by Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin would eliminate a $107-per-night hotel payment for the 33 legislators who live within 50 miles of the state Capitol.
The proposal was on the verge of a swift vote in the Senate State and Local Government Committee before fellow Republican Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro proposed adding a requirement for lawmakers who live outside the Nashville area to submit hotel receipts.
“If we’re doing it for those under 50 miles, we should address those over 50 miles who are milking the system,” Ketron said.
Ketron said the change would alter the current practice of automatically paying each lawmaker the full daily allowance, no matter what they actually spend on their accommodations.
“There was a member who is no longer here who took the per diem and slept in his office and showered downstairs. That’s not quite fair,” Ketron said. “Or those who double up and triple up in to a motel room or an apartment.”
Lawmakers receive the hotel allowance for four days a week while the Legislature is in session, though most only stay in Nashville for three nights.
Ketron said he supports Haile’s bill, even though he is among the Nashville-area lawmakers who would lose the daily hotel allowance. The measure would continue to provide a $66 daily meals allowance for all lawmakers.
The original measure applying to just those living close to Nashville would cut an estimated $253,616 in lawmaker expenses per year.
Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman and the committee’s chairman, called for a vote to be delayed so staff could flesh out the language and estimated costs of Ketron’s proposal.
The companion bill sponsored by Rep. Rick Womick, R-Murfreesboro, was scheduled for a House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.
(Note: Coincidentally, the $107 reduction in per diem payments is SB107. The daily per diem total is $173. The remaining $66 would continue to be paid to Nashville area lawmakers.)

Bill Would Stop Per Diem Payments to Nashville Area Legislators

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News release from Senate Republican Caucus:
(NASHVILLE) – State Senator Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) filed legislation today to end expense account payment for lodging for state legislators who live within 50 miles of Tennessee’s State Capitol Building. Haile said Senate Bill 107 is a big step forward in reforming the per diem system through which members receive reimbursement for expenses.
“I should not be reimbursed for a hotel stay if I sleep in my own bed at night,” said Senator Haile. “This legislation would end reimbursement for lodging for those who live within a 50-mile commuting distance to the State Capitol Building.”
“We are accountable to the taxpayers, and we felt it was time to change the system,” Haile added. “This fulfills a promise I made to file this legislation as my first bill of the 2013 legislative session.”
The state law that provides for the reimbursement of legislator expenses is not a permissive statute, meaning reimbursement of the expense account is not optional. If a member chooses to reimburse the state for their expense account payment, they must write a check to the state; however, they still are required to pay taxes on the full amount to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS considers the per diem payment for those living within 50 miles of the State Capitol as income, meaning affected lawmakers must pay federal taxes on it in accordance with their guidelines.
Other Senate sponsors of the bill include Senators Steven Dickerson (R-Nashville), Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and Mark Green (R-Clarksville). The bill will be sponsored by Representative Rick Womick (R-Rockvale).

Legislators Get a Pay Raise, Plus a Penny More Per Traveled Mile

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State legislators will be paid $1,194 more per year in salary during the 108thGeneral Assembly than they were paid last session, an increase of about 6.28 percent that will be the first boost in lawmaker’s base pay since 2008.
The increase went into effect on election day, Nov. 6, in accord with a state law enacted in 2005, according to Connie Ridley, director of the Office of Legislative Administration. The law calls for automatic increases every two years based on the increases in average state employee compensation during the proceeding two-year period.
The first year the law took effect, 2006, saw legislator pay increase from $16,500 – where it had stood since 1988 – to $18,123. In 2008, it rose to $19,009. In 2010, after two years in which state employees got no salary increase, it was not changed, officials said.
The new base salary for a lawmaker will be $20,203, where it will remain for the duration of the 108thGeneral Assembly, which will end in November, 2014.
Under the same 2005 law, the speakers of the House and Senate get three times the salary of an average legislator. Thus, House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey will now be paid $60,609 per year, up from $57,027.
In addition to their base salary, legislators also get $1,000 per month as a “home office allowance,” a flat rate that is not subject to an automatic increase. They further receive a daily “per diem” expense allowance for each day they engage in legislative work, which will remain unchanged in the coming year at $173 per day. The “per diem” allowance follows a federal government standard for calculating the cost of a motel and meals in Nashville and the federal figure was unchanged this year.
Legislators are also paid mileage for driving from their home to Nashville for legislative meetings. The mileage rate, also tied to a federal formula, will increase a penny per mile for the upcoming session, from 46 cents to 47 cents, for the 108th General Assembly, officials said.
Nationwide, state legislator salaries vary dramatically, according to the National Conference of State Legislators website – from zero in New Mexico to $95,291 per year in California.
Tennessee seems ahead of most neighboring states in lawmaker base pay. Georgia, for example, pays its legislators $17,342 per year and Mississippi $10,000. Kentucky gives its lawmakers $188.22 per day and Alabama just $10 a day, the website indicates.

Legislator Expenses Up With Oversight Committees Closed

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By Erik Schelzig, Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lawmakers’ out-of-session expenses increased 8 percent in the third quarter despite the elimination of legislative oversight committees, an Associated Press review has found.
The state paid out about $270,000 in daily expenses and mileage reimbursements in the quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with $251,000 in the same year-ago period. The figures do not include out-of-state trips, but do include about $30,000 spent to send lawmakers to a Southern Legislative Conference meeting in Memphis in July.
Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey’s spokesman Adam Kleinheider called the quarter’s increase a “one time blip” because of the Memphis event.
“Our members had a great opportunity to serve as ambassadors for our state and they took it,” he said. “Unified Republican government is committed to cutting government wherever and whenever it can.”

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Matheny is ‘Per Diem King’ for First Six Months of 2011

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Jeff Woods has looked through state legislator reports on receipt of daily expense payments and says House Speaker Pro Tempore Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, is the “per diem king” with took $19,536 for the first six months of this year.
All legislators collected roughly the same per diem during the five-month legislative session. After that, it’s up to lawmakers to decide how often they want to charge taxpayers for attending conferences or coming to Legislative Plaza for meetings or routine office work.
Other leaders in per diem so far this year are Reps. Jimmy Naifeh, $18,683; Joe Towns, D-Memphis, $18,480; Mike Kernell, D-Memphis, $18,128; and Lois DeBerry, D-Memphis, $17,952.
… State Rep. Brenda Gilmore has collected the most daily expense cash of any state legislator from Nashville so far this year, according to new figures. Gilmore raked in $16,192 in the $176 daily allowances, easily more than her nearest rival for the dubious honor. That was Rep. Sherry Jones, who took $15,488,