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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Ind. Gov't. - More on: Senate passes a non-transparent and convoluted pay raise bill [Updated]

The House Rules Committee is currently (6:45 pm) discussing SB 401, about which the ILB posted a lengthy entry on March 4th.

At 6:46 pm the bill was passed out of committee, 9-0.

[Updated 3/4/07] Niki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has a story this morning on the commitee action:

INDIANAPOLIS – The House Rules Committee voted in a bipartisan manner Tuesday to approve legislation that would give lawmakers and statewide elected officeholders automatic annual pay increases in the coming years.

Legislative leaders have embraced Senate Bill 401, which calls for a significant pay raise for state lawmakers in 2009.

The bill, which passed unanimously, now moves to the full House for consideration.

Legislative base pay of $11,600 has been the same since 1985, though what legislators collect has risen automatically through leadership bonuses and daily per diem of $137 for expenses during session and $54.80 a day while out of session.

State records show the average pay for lawmakers last year was about $40,000.

In addition, legislators receive a four-to-one pension match, which means the state pays in $4 for every $1 the legislator contributes.

Senate Bill 401 would reduce the pension match to the usual state employee level and eliminate permanently a state-subsidized lifetime health care benefit for lawmakers. * * *

The bill ties legislative pay to 18 percent of a judge’s salary. This currently would be $20,700, though judicial pay rises automatically every year depending on the average salary increase for state employees.

Statewide elected officeholders – such as the secretary of state, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction – also would see their pay go up annually based on the average salary increase for state employees.

This year, the average is a 4 percent increase, though during past recessions employees have seen their salaries frozen. The arrangement means lawmakers won’t ever again be forced to vote directly on their pay or that for other state officeholders.

The legislative pay raise would go into effect Jan. 1, 2009, after the next election, per constitutional rules.

Emphasis added ....

This story, like earlier stories, notes that the members will continue to receive leadership bonuses "and daily per diem of $137 for expenses during session and $54.80 a day while out of session."

This means that that the "annual salary" you see is not what legislators receive now or will receive under this new proposal.

Where in the law is the language permitting and setting the amount of the leadership bonuses "and daily per diem of $137 for expenses during session and $54.80 a day while out of session? It is in the budget bill.

Take a look at the budget bill now pending before the General Assembly, HB 1, as reprinted Feb. 23, 2007. Pages 4-7 deal with the Legislature. The Legislative Per Diem allowance is set out on p. 4, beginning on line 29:

Included in the above appropriations for house and senate expenses are funds for a legislative business per diem allowance, meals, and other usual and customary expenses associated with legislative affairs. Except as provided below,this allowance is to be paid to each member of the general assembly for every day, including Sundays, during which the general assembly is convened in regular or special session, commencing with the day the session is officially convened and concluding with the day the session is adjourned sine die. * * *

The legislative business per diem allowance that each member of the general assembly is entitled to receive equals the maximum daily amount allowable to employees of the executive branch of the federal government for subsistence expenses while away from home in travel status in the Indianapolis area. The legislative business per diem changes each time there is a change in that maximum daily amount.

So the actual dollar per diem figure is NOT set out in the budget bill. Worse, the amount is tied to a figure established by the federal government. In other words, the General Assembly has delegated this lawmaking responsibility to the federal government, a practice which is of very dubious constitutionality.

Further, on p.4, starting on line 33:

Notwithstanding the provisions of this or any other statute, the legislative council may adopt, by resolution, travel policies and procedures that apply only to members of the general assembly or to the staffs of the house of representatives, senate, and legislative services agency, or both members and staffs. * * * Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or policy, the state travel policies and procedures established by the Indiana department of administration and approved by the budget agency do not apply to members of the general assembly, to the staffs of the house of representatives, senate, or legislative services agency, or to lay members serving on research, study, or survey committees or commissions under the jurisdiction of the legislative council.
What about the subsistence allowance? Page 6, line 21:
Each member of the general assembly is entitled to a subsistence allowance of forty percent (40%) of the maximum daily amount allowable to employees of the executive branch of the federal government for subsistence expenses while away from home in travel status in the Indianapolis area: (1) each day that the general assembly is not convened in regular or special session; and (2) each day after the first session day held in November and before the first session
28 day held in January.
Also on p. 5, beginning at line 5, is the "leadership allowance" to be paid on top of the subsistence allowance:
president pro tempore, $6,500; assistant president pro tempore, $2,500; majority floor leader emeritus, $1,500; majority floor leader, $5,000; assistant majority floor leader, $1,000; majority caucus chair, $5,000; assistant majority caucus chair, $1,000; appropriations committee chair, $5,000; tax and fiscal policy committee chair, $5,000; appropriations committee ranking majority member, $1,500; tax and fiscal policy committee ranking majority member, $1,500; majority whip, $3,500; assistant majority whip, $1,000; minority floor leader, $5,500; minority leader pro tempore, $1,000; minority caucus chair, $4,500; minority assistant floor leader, $4,500; appropriations committee ranking minority member, $2,000; tax and fiscal policy committee ranking minority member, $2,000; minority whip, $2,500; assistant minority whip, $500; and assistant minority caucus chair, $500.

Officers of the house of representatives are entitled to the following amounts annually in addition to the subsistence allowance: speaker of the house, $6,500; speaker pro tempore, $5,000; deputy speaker pro tempore, $1,500; majority leader, $5,000; majority caucus chair, $5,000; assistant majority caucus chair, $1,000; ways and means committee chair, $5,000; ways and means committee ranking majority member, $3,000; ways and means committee, chairman of the education subcommittee, $1,500; speaker pro tempore emeritus, $1,500; budget subcommittee chair, $3,000; majority whip, $3,500; assistant majority whip, $1,000; assistant majority leader, $1,000; minority leader, $5,500; minority caucus chair, $4,500; ways and means committee ranking minority member, $3,500; minority whip, $2,500; assistant minority leader, $4,500; second assistant minority leader, $1,500; and deputy assistant minority leader, $1,000.

Quick calculations show that 4 months of $137/day = $16,440, plus 8 months of $55/day = $13,200, totalling a minimum $29,640 "floor." Add to that funds for travel and the leadership allowances.

The point? None of the above is affected by the new legislative pay raise bill.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 3, 2007 06:39 PM
Posted to Indiana Government