A Senate leader wants to make sure the part-time legislature doesn't stay full time.
Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, filed a bill last week that would cut off legislators' daily stipend and travel allowances past a certain number of days: 60 days in short sessions held in even-numbered years, or 135 in an odd-numbered years such as this one.
Legislators get $104 per day in so-called per diems, so their annual stipend would be limited to either $6,240 to $14,040.
(During session, per diems include Saturdays and Sundays, even if the legislature does not meet on those days.)
Reps. Grier Martin and Darren Jackson, both Wake County Democrats, currently do not accept per diem. Rep. Ty Harrell did not accept it in previous sessions.
In addition, legislators receive a reimbursement of 29 cents per mile for one round trip a week from home to the state capital. Rep. Roger West of Marble travels the farthest — 720 miles, or $208, round trip.
The bill has a good chance in the Senate. It already has 35 co-sponsors — a supermajority in the 50-member Senate — including both Republicans and Democrats.
No similar bill has yet been filed in the House.
Related: Conservative blogger calls bill "a pretty good first step."
Blog RSS feed
Re: Bill would limit legislators' stipends
This is just the Senate's way of creating time limits for legislative sessions. Trust me, this will never see the light of day in the House. The Senate only has 50 members, so they don't mind having time limits...but when you have 120 members of the House, they like to be a bit more deliberative and ensure that all the people's representatives have a voice, so I doubt they'll take kindly to this.