• Last week proved to be quite busy! Crossover day--the day when all bills have to either pass or be killed by their house of origin--was Wednesday. Those of you who have been tuning into PBS for gavel-to-gavel coverage know that Wednesday was a marathon day on the House side. By the time we had dealt with all the House bills we were required to dispose of that day, it was after 10:00 p.m.
• HB 1212 was one bill that proved to be controversial. The bill would establish a higher per diem rate for legislators both during session and throughout the rest of the year when we attend official interim meetings. Currently, state law sets the reimbursement amount at $110/day. The new language calls for the

rate to be the maximum allowable rate as established by the IRS. Present-day, that amount would be $123/day. While the increase may not sound substantial, the total price tag associated with the increase would be $65,000 of taxpayer money. Moreover, it does not take into account the precedent we will establish. It will be difficult to justify not increasing per diem for other persons serving on commissions, as well as all other state employees who attend meetings in their official capacities. Also, it would be a vast deviation from existing policy that requires legislators to cast a vote and to be held accountable for increasing their total compensation. For the record, we make $6,000/year as our salary. When you take into account per diem reimbursements, most legislators' compensation exceeds $11,000. I voted no on the bill. It passed 36-33 and will head to the Senate where I hope it meets its demise.

(Continued on page 5)