Per diem pay nags at lawmakers

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CORRECTION

In a chart accompanying a report on Page 1A Monday about expense payments to state legislators, Rep. Paul Stam of Apex was incorrectly identified as a Democrat. He is a Republican

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State lawmakers received more than $57,000 for living expenses this year for days they did not show up for the legislative session, records show.

Eight of those lawmakers missed 15 or more of the session's 220 days, legislative records show.

Some of those lawmakers say they earned the $104 per diem payments anyway, because they did legislative work outside the chamber.

Questions about per diems often spark a debate about how much lawmakers are compensated for their efforts. A per diem, which comes from a Latin term meaning "by the day," is supposed to pay for board, meals and other costs associated with being in Raleigh.

Per diems are paid for every day of the week -- even though most weeks, lawmakers arrive Monday afternoon for an evening session and leave Thursday afternoon.

Rep. Harold Brubaker claimed the most per diems for missed days. The records say he missed 25 days -- more than 10 percent of the session.

Explaining absences

Brubaker, an Asheboro Republican who was House speaker from 1995 to 1999, said he was on legislative business those days.

"I always take per diems when I am working on legislative business or attending conferences, and that's what I was doing," Brubaker said.

Another lawmaker who accepted expense payments for days he was absent, Rep. Steve LaRoque, a Kinston Republican, said he was doing constituent work. LaRoque said he needed the per diems to augment a legislative salary of $13,951 per year.

"It costs me money to serve -- bottom line," said LaRoque, who missed 20 full days last session and parts of five others. "I hired somebody to help run my business while I'm in Raleigh, and I pay her more than what I get paid to serve."

State Sen. David Weinstein said lawmakers have come to depend on the per diems because the salary is so low. It has not changed since 1993. He introduced a bill this year that would bump the salary up to $25,000 in 2007, and increase the per diem to $125.

Legislative leaders opposed the bill, he said, because they feared the public would raise Cain.

Affordability an issue

"We are slowly losing our citizen legislature," said Weinstein, a Lumberton Democrat, "because bankers, lawyers and doctors are the only ones who can afford to serve."

One lawmaker did not take the per diems. Freshman state Rep. Grier Martin, a Raleigh lawyer, said he declined $22,000 in per diems because his actual daily expenses -- 75 cents in gas to and from the Legislative Building -- did not justify his receiving the $104 per diem, as state law allows.

"I have a ridiculously short commute," he said.

But Martin, a Democrat, said he wouldn't pass judgment on colleagues who accepted the per diems, even on days when they weren't there.

Legislators were in session from late January to early September.

Bob Phillips, executive director for Common Cause North Carolina, a nonpartisan government watchdog, said he sympathizes with lawmakers about their low salaries -- up to a point.

"There may be some examples where there may be some justification, but on balance it's kind of tough to justify taking a per diem when you are not actually coming to Raleigh for a legislative day," Phillips said.

Those who live within 50 miles of the Legislative Building still get the full per diem. But the IRS considers it taxable income, which means those lawmakers are required to return roughly 40 percent of it to the government.

One refund coming

Of lawmakers in the Triangle, Rep. Verla Insko, a Chapel Hill Democrat, missed the most days. She received per diems for eight of those days.

Insko said she would return seven days of the per diems. She said she had gone to California for a family emergency one week during the session and hadn't had time to square the account.

Many lawmakers did not take per diems for days missed. Some took fewer per diems than days they attended, legislative records show.

Legislative staff and others who follow the legislature closely say they are unaware of a lawmaker who declined per diems for an entire session. Martin said he isn't sure he will make a habit of it.

"You won't see it on any [campaign] mail; you won't see me bragging about it," he said. "It isn't anything to brag about. It's just what was appropriate at this time."