Tuesday, December 02, 2008

SC Times hits per diem and other compensation

Again!

Recall the posts on this last year.

According to a SC Times investigation, 18 legislators received more in per diem and other compensation than their annual salary, $31,140.

I opposed the sharp increases in per diem back in March 2007. I believe that our legislators are not properly compensated for the work that they do. However, the back door pay increases like raising per diem from $66 a day to $96 a day look like ways to skirt the system, especially since no receipts are required.

So, let's take another look at what our local leaders hauled in last year!

Bruce Anderson: $18,066. He's noted to be a "friend of the taxpayer".
Tom Emmer: $7,322.
Mark Olson: $13,794.
Ron Shimanski: $14,372.
Dean Urdahl: $19,793. How many church potlucks did he claim?

With more than $3.45 million spent on legislator per diem thus far in 2008 and the state facing a significant budget deficit, rumored to be in the $4-$6 Billion range, will our elected leaders do the right thing and reduce the spending on per diems?

Will they create a stronger system of accountability?

We'll go into a more detailed account of the per diem follies in a later post, just as we did last year.

1 comment:

taxpaying liberal said...

They received this money over a 5 month period. So most of these guys actually maxed out what they we entitled to. It's good to be king.