Legislators get higher pay in '15, less for expenses

Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, (left) is shown in this file photo.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, (left) is shown in this file photo.

The total of Arkansas lawmakers' per-diem, mileage and other expense reimbursements dropped by nearly $1.6 million in 2015 from the $4.77 million total spent in 2013 -- the latest two regular-session years for the Legislature.

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AP

Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, is shown in this Jan. 23, 2013 file photo.

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Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale (top), is shown in this file photo.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Listing of legislative expenses in 2015.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Arkansas lawmakers' salaries and expenses.

And a pay raise in 2015 increased lawmakers' total salaries to $3.37 million as compared with $2.14 million in 2013, according to state Auditor Andrea Lea's office.

Combined salary and expense payments to lawmakers last year totaled $6.55 million -- a dip of about $360,000 from 2013's total, according to figures compiled by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from the Arkansas Legislative Audit, the Bureau of Legislative Research, the state House of Representatives, the state Senate and Lea's office.

Legislative leaders said last year's expense payments were lower than in 2013 partly because lawmakers eliminated their eligibility to receive up to $14,400 a year in certain office-related expenses in exchange for the pay raise granted by a citizens commission.

They said the expense payments also dipped because the Legislature's 82-day regular session in 2015 was 19 days shorter than the 101-day 2013 session.

In addition, they said lawmakers received per-diem payments for five days a week during 2015's session -- unless they signed documents showing that they worked on legislative business at the state Capitol on Saturdays and/or Sundays. In 2013, the per-diem was for seven days a week.

"We were mindful of the pay increase and wanted to do what we could to control costs," said Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy.

Per-diem (a daily allowance for lodging, meals and incidentals), mileage and other expense payments are in addition to lawmakers' annual salaries.

The Independent Citizens Commission -- created by Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution -- boosted the salaries of representatives and senators from $15,869 a year to $39,500, and those for the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore from $17,771 a year to $45,000, effective March 29.

Amendment 94, approved by voters in November 2014, also increased the number of years that lawmakers can serve in the House, Senate or in both chambers; barred lawmakers from accepting certain gifts, such as meals in one-on-one meetings with lobbyists; and prohibited direct corporation and union contributions to candidates.

The Legislature has 35 senators and 100 representatives. Lawmakers meet in regular sessions in odd-numbered years and fiscal sessions in even-numbered years. All types of legislation can be considered in regular sessions, but fiscal sessions are limited to budgetary matters and are therefore shorter. In between sessions, legislators attend interim committee meetings.

Last year's regular session began in January. Since legislators' raises went into effect March 29, they didn't receive the full newly approved amounts in 2015. Each senator and representative received $33,698.18 in salary in 2015, and the House speaker and pro tempore were each paid $38,402.18, Lea's office reported.

Two bills to eliminate their eligibility to be reimbursed for some office-related expenses were signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson on March 20 and March 23.

Lawmakers who are committee chairmen still are eligible for up to $3,600 a year in office-related expense reimbursements. Those who are committee vice chairmen are eligible for up to $2,400 a year, and subcommittee chairmen are eligible for up to $1,800 per year. Also, legislators were able to file in 2015 for office-related expenses incurred in earlier years.

The Internal Revenue Service allows lawmakers to be paid per-diem for seven days a week during legislative sessions. But, Dismang said, he and House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, decided to reduce that to five days a week, but still give lawmakers the option of being paid for working weekends at the Capitol, if they signed a form verifying that they did so.

"We felt it was a good step to take," Dismang said.

Gillam added, "We were trying to be extremely efficient with the calendar and keep from people having to be here on the weekend."

Dismang said he and Gillam also have taken steps to increase efficiency by having committees that meet during nonsession times schedule meetings together.

Gillam said most state lawmakers are "breaking even" in the wake of the 2015 changes -- getting higher salaries but receiving less in expense reimbursements.

"I would assume it is about a wash," said Joint Budget Committee co-chairman Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville. "It seems fair enough to me."

EXPENSE PAYMENTS

Over the past decade, the highest expense reimbursements went to lawmakers who attended the most meetings in nonsession times, lived the farthest from Little Rock or attended the most out-of-state conferences.

In 2015, one state lawmaker received more than $60,000 in expense payments: state Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View.

All other lawmakers received under $50,000 in such payments last year.

In contrast, seven lawmakers received more than $50,000 in per-diem, mileage and expense reimbursements in 2013. Then-state Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, received the highest amount at $57,504. That figure included $10,390 from 2012 office-related expenses that were paid in 2013. Burris, at the time, was chairman of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.

Irvin collected $60,676 for expense last year, according to state records. That included $8,929.38 in office-related expenses incurred in 2013 and $17,207.40 in such expenses incurred in 2014, for which she sought reimbursement last year, according to Senate records. She was able to claim more than $14,400 in expenses in 2014 because she's a committee chairman.

The office-related expenses included $440 a month for office use at Irvin Medical Clinic, as well as secretarial, telephone, copying, fax and other expenses, according to a review of her expense reimbursement file in the Senate.

"We got everybody caught up as we were changing to the new system," Irvin said, referring to the elimination of the office-related expense reimbursements.

"It is all legal," Irvin said. "I go to the nth degree to itemize each detail."

Asked whether lawmakers are making more money now under the salary and expense reimbursement changes, Irvin said, "I guess it depends on what tax bracket you are in."

"To me, the salary is not important. It doesn't drive me to do what I do," said Irvin, who serves on the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. She is chairman of the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee.

She said she has "an extraordinarily huge Senate district," and her expenses far exceeded what she was eligible to receive in reimbursements.

Irvin's Senate District 18 includes Cleburne, Searcy and Stone counties, and parts of Baxter, Faulkner, Fulton, Marion, Van Buren and White counties.

Her round-trip drive from Mountain View to Little Rock is 234 miles, according to Senate records.

Irvin, who has served in the Senate since 2011, said she attended more meetings outside of legislative sessions last year than she did in her previous years because "you have more responsibilities the [longer] you are there."

Also, she attended last year's Southern Legislative Conference in Savannah, Ga., at a cost of $2,247.86, according to Bureau of Legislative Research records. The meeting was held July 18-22. She said she finds attending the conference helpful due to the exchange of information about legislation in other states.

In 2015, Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, collected the second-largest amount for expenses in the Legislature. His $45,722 included $14,400 for office-related expenses incurred in 2014, according to state records.

Clark is co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Performance Review Committee, which met more frequently last year than in previous years, and he serves on the Senate Education Committee. He also attended the Southern Legislative Conference in Georgia at a cost of $1,280.35, according to state records.

"There are a lot of weeks I'm there every day [in Little Rock]," Clark said. Lonsdale is in Garland County.

He said he has asked dozens of his constituents whether he should stay home and save the state money or attend legislative meetings in Little Rock and represent them, and they've all told him to "go up there and get the job done."

In 2015, Rep. Betty Overbey, D-Lamar, received the third-largest amount for legislative expenses at $45,678. That included $14,400 for office-related expenses incurred in 2014. Rep. David Hillman, D-Almyra, received the fourth-largest amount at $43,545, which included $14,400 for office-related expenses incurred in 2014, according to state records.

Overbey is chairman of the House City, County and Local Affairs Committee and serves on the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. She has been in the House since 2013.

Lamar is in Johnson County.

"I am down there [Little Rock] all the time because if you don't go down there, you don't know what's going on," Overbey said. "I don't sign in and leave," she added, referring to legislators who sign in so they can receive per-diem amounts but then don't attend the meetings.

Hillman attended the Southern Legislative Conference in Georgia at a cost of $2,055.82, according to state records.

He has been in the House since 2013, and said he probably attended more meetings last year than in his previous years in the Legislature partly because a legislative task force was studying the Medicaid program, including the private option, and he attended some of those meetings.

"That is something that is really important to rural Arkansas and hospitals," he said.

EXPENSE DETAILS

Last year, lawmakers who live farther than 50 miles from the state Capitol each received $150 in per-diem expenses for attending meetings in Little Rock, said House Chief Clerk Sherri Stacks.

Lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the Capitol were paid $61 per meeting day until Oct. 1, when they started being paid $59 per day, Stacks said.

Mileage was reimbursed at 57.5 cents per mile, Stacks said. That rate was cut to 54 cents per mile on Jan. 1 of this year, she said.

Lawmakers usually have more expenses in odd-numbered, regular-session, years. Generally, the longer the session, the higher the costs.

In 2008, voters amended the state constitution to hold fiscal legislative sessions in even-numbered years.

Expense payments totaled $3.6 million in 2006, rose to $4.4 million in 2008 and to $4.8 million in 2010, before dropping to $3.8 million in 2012. They increased to $4.02 million in 2014.

Expense payments in regular-session years totaled $3.9 million in 2005, $4.7 million in 2007 and $5.41 million in 2009, before dipping to $5.09 million in 2011, $4.77 million in 2013 and $3.18 million in 2015.

The expense payments to lawmakers dropped from 2010 to 2012 and from 2011 to 2013 largely because of a reduction in office-related expenses paid after the April 2012 settlement of a lawsuit that challenged the Legislature's system of reimbursing lawmakers. The suit was filed by the Arkansas Public Law Center, which was established to litigate "issues of broad importance."

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