The legislative session costs $50,000 a day.

To put it another way, $1 milion a month (figuring $50,000 a day for five days a week).

Those figures represent the added expense of having part-time legislative assistants at work, typing and printing bills, paying lawmakers' subsistence and travel, and a host of other costs related to making laws, said George Hall, the legislative services officer.

During session, all lawmakers receive a per diem of $104 per day. They also receive a roundrip mileage reimbursement from home to Raleigh for one trip a week. It is a part-time legislature, after all.

Rank-and-file members are paid $13,951 per year. The speaker and senate leader make $38,151 a year. 

Lawmakers had hoped to pack it in as early as next week. But Gov. Beverly Perdue's decision to scuttle a budget deal sent negotators back to the table. It's anyone's guess how long it will take to finish a budget, but lawmakers didn't sound optimistic.

The legislature's operating budget was approved at $59 million last year, although spending was slashed across all agencies. Hall said next year's budget would likely be between $51 million and $52 million.

The State Ethics Commission is asking a Superior Court judge to prevent State Auditor Les Merritt from investigating a claim of preferential treatment for Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor.

The suit claims that Merritt's office has a conflict of interest because its investigations chief, Frank Perry, left the ethics commission a year ago. The suit also claims that Merritt, a Republican seeking re-election, "denigrated" the commission in an hour-long interview with a radio station.

It is a rare case in which one state agency is suing another, reports Dan Kane.

"The commission welcomes an independent and impartial investigation by an appropriate entity that is free from actual and/or perceived conflicts of interest," the suit said.

More after the jump.

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The state legislature's new program evaluation division has a director — John Turcotte, who has run similar programs in Florida and Mississippi.

Lawmakers created the new division this year to "promote efficiency and effectiveness in state government," according to the sponsoring legislation, reports Dan Kane.

Legislative Services Director George Hall said Turcotte will be paid $135,000 a year and oversee a staff of nine.