Some lawmakers reject extra pay, cut session's cost

BY BRAD SHANNON AND JORDAN SCHRADER | Staff writers • Published March 18, 2010

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The cost of the special legislative session in Olympia has shrunk to less than $14,000 a day, thanks to a growing line of state legislators who are refusing to accept their $90-per-day expense allowances.

A bipartisan group of at least 48 lawmakers have given up �per diem� checks for as long as the session continues. For minority Republicans, it�s a protest against the special session.

�Where I�m from, if you don�t do your job right the first time, you don�t get paid more to do it again,� said Rep. Bruce Dammeier, a Puyallup Republican.

The per diem payment usually is not much of a public issue, and most lawmakers just take the money and run. But this year, lawmakers are sensitive in a recession in which many are voting to raise taxes � and Republicans are clubbing majority Democrats for failing to balance a budget within the 60-day regular session while also seeking tax increases.

Many of the legislators giving up the money live in Thurston and Pierce counties, close enough to the capital to drive home at night and avoid renting a place during session.

�I figure, given the budget situation, we all ought to do our part. It�s easier for me; I still live here,� said Rep. Sam Hunt, an Olympia Democrat who is rejecting the extra payment. He added that he often forgoes a share of per diem that he could claim.

As of today, 21 of 49 Senate members and 27 of 98 House members had asked to not be reimbursed their per diems, and 24 more House members asked not to receive the $90 allowance on specific days, according to staff with the Senate and House administrative offices.

Per diem � which is on top of a rank-and-file legislator�s $42,106 salary � makes up the bulk of the cost of keeping legislators in Olympia.

Republicans complained that at the usual $18,000 cost of a day in Olympia, lawmakers could pay for a teacher�s salary in three days. Seven days could pay for and equip one sheriff�s deputy, or fund 18 college need grants, they said.

House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, who is refusing her per diem, said she has not received complaints from voters in her district � although she did get some lip from a Department of Licensing clerk when she went to get her license renewed in Olympia.

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