Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, arrives for the senate’s floor session on Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, arrives for the senate’s floor session on Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

‘A slap to the face’: Legislators could change law to collect extra pay, despite not finishing on time

Vote could come after session for lawmakers to get back payments

Less than a year after a law was signed to cut off legislators’ per diem in the event of a late budget, there’s talk in the Capitol of changing part of the law back.

House Bill 44 deals with a variety of ways to hold lawmakers accountable, including a conflict of interest provision and a portion stating that legislators wouldn’t receive a per diem — a daily payment meant to cover living and eating expenses — if they didn’t pass a budget on time. Under the law, legislators would not get paid back for the per diem they missed, but there’s a way for lawmakers to change that.

This session, the Legislature did not pass a budget during its 121-day regular session and has still not done so as the 30-day special session approaches its end. Legislators have not gotten a per diem — which is $302 per day for non-Juneau-based legislators, according to the Legislative Affairs Agency — since the end of regular session. Per diem comes out of the Legislature’s operating budget, according to LAA.

[Million dollar special session? This is how much it could cost the state]

Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said lawmakers are watching their bank accounts dwindle as session wears on.

“Nobody should be expected to lose money doing this job, and of course everyone is right now,” Stevens said. “Juneau’s an expensive place to stay.”

Stevens is the chairman of the Legislative Council, a 14-member body that addresses issues related to the Legislature when lawmakers are not in session.

With a majority vote, the council has the ability to grant legislators back pay, Stevens said. The Legislative Council would not address that, he said, until after the Legislature tackles more important issues such as the budget and the amount of the Permanent Fund Dividend.

[Lawsuit pits role of Legislature against power of governor]

Former Rep. Jason Grenn, who proposed HB 44 and watched it pass into law, said that if legislators gave themselves back pay after not passing a budget, “that would be an egregious action and slap in the face to public in my opinion,” he told the Empire recently.

Rep. Jason Grenn, NA-Anchorage, right, and his staff Ryan Johnston, introduce HB 44 in the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol on Friday, Jan. 24, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Rep. Jason Grenn, NA-Anchorage, right, and his staff Ryan Johnston, introduce HB 44 in the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol on Friday, Jan. 24, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Stevens said the idea of securing back pay has not been brought up in any official capacity. He said that not every legislator is able to afford living in another city without a stipend.

“I don’t think it’s fair to ask people to spend their own money to do their job,” Stevens said. “Hotels are expensive, a couple hundred dollars. I’m staying at the Baranof, and my wife is with me, so it’s a larger room. It’s expensive. I’m paying for it, I can afford it, but I don’t think it’s fair to ask other people who don’t have the money to do that.”

Legislators do collect an annual salary, Stevens said. According to LAA, that salary is $50,400.

Grenn flipped that argument about fairness around.

“It’s not fair to the public that Legislators continue to take money our state doesn’t have just because they failed to accomplish their only constitutional duty on time,” Grenn said. “In the private sector, you wouldn’t pay workers extra overtime and bonuses if they continually failed at doing the job they signed up for.”

[Behind the gridlock: Two arguments divide Senate on PFD]

Legislators’ per diem fluctuates based on the season and based on special sessions, LAA Executive Director Jessica Geary said via email Wednesday. This session, the rate has been $302 per day throughout, and that the Legislative Council voted in April to keep that rate instead of raising the per diem to $322 per day.

Per diem fluctuates from year to year as well, as it is tied to the federal rate set by the U.S. Department of Defense, Geary said. In 2018, for example, per diem was $275 for non-Juneau legislators and $206.25 per day for Juneau lawmakers. Juneau legislators’ per diem is 75 percent of what non-Juneau lawmakers do, as they live at home during session.

Per diem for a 30-day special session would be $9,060 per lawmaker, or $516,420 total. According to LAA cost estimates, Juneau lawmakers do not receive a per diem in special session.

This wouldn’t be the first part of HB 44 to not make it through the session. Earlier this session, the Legislature rolled back the conflict of interest portion of the bill as well as lawmakers found the legislation to be too constrictive to conversation on the floor and committee meetings. They did that through Senate Bill 89, which went to the governor’s desk May 1 for final approval.

Recent per diem amounts (per day, per legislator)

2018

Out-of-town amount: $275

Juneau amount: $206.25

2017

Out-of-town winter amount: $213 (January-April), $275 (May)

Special session amount: $295

Juneau amount: $159.75 (January-February), $206.25 (March-April), $221.25 (May 1-May 17), $206.25 (special sessions)

2016

Out-of-town amount: $223 (January-February), $213 (March-April), $247 (May)

Special session amount: $247

Juneau amount: $167.50 (January-February), $159.75 (March-April), $185.25 (May), $185.25 (special session)

2015

Out-of-town winter amount: $237 (January-February), $225 (March-April)

Out-of-town special session amount: $223 (April), $249 (May), $292 (May 21-June 11 in Anchorage*), $223 (Oct. 24-Nov.6)

Juneau amount: $177.75 (January-February), $167.25 (March-April)

Juneau special session amount: $167.25 (April), $186.75 (May), $292 (May 21-June 11 in Anchorage), $167.25 (Oct. 24-Nov.6)

*Anchorage lawmakers got a per diem of $219

Statistics courtesy of the Legislative Affairs Agency


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


More in News

Aurora forecast for the week of Nov. 27

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

An aerial view of mud and forest debris that buried a stretch of the Zimovia Highway a day after a landslide struck an area of Wrangell on Nov. 21. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Authorities in Wrangell suspend search for boy missing after deadly landslide

Authorities have suspended the search for the 12-year-old boy still missing following… Continue reading

Ron Ekis (wearing red) and Dakota Brown order from Devils Hideaway at the new Vintage Food Truck Park as Marty McKeown, owner of the property, shows seating facilities still under construction to other local media members on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
New Vintage Food Truck Park makes year-round debut

Two of planned five food trucks now open, with covered seating and other offerings in the works.

Steve Bradford (left) and Mark Kissel, both vice presidents of the Riverside Condominiums Homeowners Association, discuss repairs to two of the complex’s buildings on Aug. 9 as a bulldozer places rock fill under a corner of one building exposed by erosion during record flooding of the Mendenhall River on Aug. 5. Repairs to both buildings ultimately were successful. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Juneau Community Foundation offering pool of $28,300 in relief funds to Suicide Basin flood victims

Deadline to apply is Dec. 31, funds will be divided among applicants.

Key Bank was one of the banks victimized by a Juneau man who was sentenced Tuesday to two-and-a-half years in prison for stealing nearly $580,000 multiple banks and credit unions between 2020 and 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Former Juneau armored guard sentenced to 2½ years for stealing from banks, credit unions

Austin Nolan Dwight Rutherford, 29, convicted of stealing nearly $580,000 between 2020 and 2022.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, Dec. 4, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The Juneau School District is entangled in a dispute with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development about supplemental funds the city provides for what the district calls non-instructional purposes such as after-school programs and pupil transportation. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire file photo)
State seeks to change rules for ‘local contribution’ funds to school districts beyond the ‘cap’

Education department abandons challenge under existing state law to Juneau, other districts.

A chart shows the proposed plans for each of the Alaska Marine Highway System’s nine ferries next summer under a schedule open for public comment until Dec. 19. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Proposed ferry schedule for next summer looks a lot like this year’s — with one possible big exception

Cross-Gulf sailings will resume if enough crew hired; AMHS begins two-week public comment period.

Most Read