DENVER-
Lawmakers who live away from home during the legislative session could collect another $6,120 a year in expenses under a bill given initial approval by the Senate on Friday.
Under the measure (Senate Bill 139), lawmakers from outside the Denver area would be given $150 a day for meals and lodging, up from $99, but the per diem for lawmakers who commute to the Capitol each day would remain at $45 a day.
Those payments are in addition to the $30,000 a year all lawmakers are paid.
The per diem amounts have been in effect since 1989 but in the last year lawmakers have seen two sources of money and perks dry up. First, lawmakers ended the practice of accepting cash donations from businesses and others to pay for their office expenses. Then voters passed an ethics law that lawmakers from accepting gifts from lobbyists, ending free lunches and dinners for lawmakers.
Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, said metro-area lawmakers should get a proportional increase too because everyone’s expenses have increased in the last 18 years.
However, the per diem payments to Denver-area lawmakers are considered taxable income by the federal government because those legislators are closer to the Capitol and can commute. Payments to lawmakers who live farther away aren’t considered taxable income.
That means increasing the per diem payments for Denver-area lawmakers amounts to a pay increase and Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, said current lawmakers can’t vote on a salary increase for themselves.
