The State Capitol was quiet Tuesday morning. The House is taking the day off. But, there’s still a price tag attached for taxpayers.
"Legislators are paid a per diem amount for every session day. It’s $157 a day," says House Clerk Butch Speer.
In years like this, with a special session followed by a regular session, followed by a second special session, per diem adds up.
"Those session days are counted by the calendar, so it’s seven days a week during a session. They begin receiving per diem on the first day of a session. They are paid a per diem for every day of a session until it is adjourned sine die," says Speer.
There are 105 members in Louisiana’s House. For this eighteen-day special session, the state is spending nearly $300,000 in per diem for the House alone.
"Per diem is not a reimbursement for expenses. Per diem is part of their statutory compensation. "So," he says, "they’re paid their compensation whether they’re in session or not."
That’s in addition to a $16,800 base salary. So, for all 144 lawmakers, House and Senate, the minimum payroll for these three sessions is in excess of $5.2 million.
But that's just one component of the total cost of a session.
"Members also receive round-trip mileage at the federal mileage reimbursement rate. One trip per week during a session. So this special session, there are three weeks. They’ll get three round-trip mileage reimbursements. That’s if they live more than 50 miles from the capitol," explains Speer.
The total cost of these sessions won’t be known until the budget is reconciled after the fiscal year ends July 1.
One thing is for certain. If lawmakers don’t come up with a fix for the $600 million shortage in the next budget, they, at least, will not be doing without.