When lawmakers voted to raise their salaries last month, they pointedly said the salary increase would not take effect until a new Legislature was elected in November.
When lawmakers voted to raise their salaries last month, they pointedly said the salary increase would not take effect until a new Legislature was elected in November.
But lawmakers never mentioned a small clause in the bill making higher per diem (or daily expense) pay retroactive - to before this year's legislative session even began.
The bill, approved in late February and signed quickly by Gov. Joe Manchin, raises the per diem by $16 - from $115 to $131. The bill allows both senators and delegates in the current Legislature to collect the additional pay retroactively back to three days of interim meetings last January, before the regular session.
Combining those three days with the 60-day session and the eight days lawmakers spent in special session after the regular session, and each member could receive a check for $2,072 for the additional pay. The total could be more than $240,000.
Per diem pay is also tax-free. Lawmakers do not have to turn in receipts to show how they spend the money. They usually receive per diem checks every 15 days.
Each lawmaker receives the per diem pay unless he or she resides at home during the session.
None of Kanawha County's 11 delegates or four senators received the pay. One Kanawha lawmaker, Republican Delegate Patrick Lane, is paid $55 a day for meal money, but does not receive mileage reimbursement or housing money.
In neighboring Putnam County, three delegates - Republican Patti Schoen and Democrats Brady Thaxton and Dale Martin - all received the full per diem. Republican Delegate Troy Andes and Republican Sen. Mike Hall collected only the $55 daily food allowance.
The bill also raised lawmakers' annual salaries from $15,000 to $20,000, increased extra pay for legislative leaders and made it easier for the leaders to collect the extra pay. Those changes do not take effect until next year.
"We just caught them up," Barbara Daniel, Senate fiscal officer, said this week.
While most lawmakers correctly professed that they raised salaries for future lawmakers and not themselves, many were aware of the additional per diem pay and that it would take effect retroactively.
"I knew it was retroactive, but I didn't know to what point," said Delegate Danny Wells, D-Kanawha.
Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha, said she was not aware of the retroactive clause and would have tried to amend that out of the bill had she known.
The legislative pay raise bill passed 62-36 in the House and 20-13 in the Senate, largely along party lines - Democrats mostly voted for it, Republicans mostly against it.
"Whether it kicks in now or in the future, I think it's just the wrong thing to do," said House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha. "A lot of people make barely enough to get by in this state. It was just wrong for the Legislature to give itself a $5,000 pay raise."
House Finance Committee member Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, was aware of the proposal, but quickly pointed out he voted against the bill. He did not object to the retroactive clause during House debate.
Delegates and senators will also receive the higher per diem when they meet for interim committee meetings (usually three days each month) and for any special sessions. At least one special session is expected to be held after the May primary election.
When lawmakers voted to raise their salaries last month, they pointedly said the salary increase would not take effect until a new Legislature was elected in November.
But lawmakers never mentioned a small clause in the bill making higher per diem (or daily expense) pay retroactive - to before this year's legislative session even began.
The bill, approved in late February and signed quickly by Gov. Joe Manchin, raises the per diem by $16 - from $115 to $131. The bill allows both senators and delegates in the current Legislature to collect the additional pay retroactively back to three days of interim meetings last January, before the regular session.
Combining those three days with the 60-day session and the eight days lawmakers spent in special session after the regular session, and each member could receive a check for $2,072 for the additional pay. The total could be more than $240,000.
Per diem pay is also tax-free. Lawmakers do not have to turn in receipts to show how they spend the money. They usually receive per diem checks every 15 days.
Each lawmaker receives the per diem pay unless he or she resides at home during the session.
None of Kanawha County's 11 delegates or four senators received the pay. One Kanawha lawmaker, Republican Delegate Patrick Lane, is paid $55 a day for meal money, but does not receive mileage reimbursement or housing money.
In neighboring Putnam County, three delegates - Republican Patti Schoen and Democrats Brady Thaxton and Dale Martin - all received the full per diem. Republican Delegate Troy Andes and Republican Sen. Mike Hall collected only the $55 daily food allowance.
The bill also raised lawmakers' annual salaries from $15,000 to $20,000, increased extra pay for legislative leaders and made it easier for the leaders to collect the extra pay. Those changes do not take effect until next year.
"We just caught them up," Barbara Daniel, Senate fiscal officer, said this week.
While most lawmakers correctly professed that they raised salaries for future lawmakers and not themselves, many were aware of the additional per diem pay and that it would take effect retroactively.
"I knew it was retroactive, but I didn't know to what point," said Delegate Danny Wells, D-Kanawha.
Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha, said she was not aware of the retroactive clause and would have tried to amend that out of the bill had she known.
The legislative pay raise bill passed 62-36 in the House and 20-13 in the Senate, largely along party lines - Democrats mostly voted for it, Republicans mostly against it.
"Whether it kicks in now or in the future, I think it's just the wrong thing to do," said House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha. "A lot of people make barely enough to get by in this state. It was just wrong for the Legislature to give itself a $5,000 pay raise."
House Finance Committee member Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, was aware of the proposal, but quickly pointed out he voted against the bill. He did not object to the retroactive clause during House debate.
Delegates and senators will also receive the higher per diem when they meet for interim committee meetings (usually three days each month) and for any special sessions. At least one special session is expected to be held after the May primary election.
The salary increase that lawmakers voted themselves would make them the highest paid "citizen" or "traditional" legislature in the nation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The NCSL rates West Virginia in the category of small states with small staffs and low pay. With per diem pay and salary combined, the average lawmaker in such states brings in $15,984 annually.
West Virginia lawmakers, in salary and per diem payments for next year's 60-day legislative session, would bring in $27,860.
Other states that have "citizen" legislatures, according to the NCSL, include Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
The pay increase approved this year was the first since 1994.
"That's a long time without a pay raise," Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, said during the session. "Legislators have to buy gas and groceries like everyone else."
Supporters of the pay raise argued that if they didn't raise salaries, ordinary people couldn't afford to serve in the Legislature.
Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, voted against the legislation in the Senate, where, like in the House, no one raised the issue of the retroactive per diem pay. Just prior to that vote, Caruth said it was not considered a party issue.
"It's an individual decision," he said at the time. "It's not a party line issue."
Lawmakers also included with it, however, potentially huge increases for leaders of both chambers.
This year, the Senate president and House speaker collected an additional $50 daily for the 60-day session and any special sessions, as well as up to 80 other days when they come to their Capitol offices to perform duties.
Next year, that pay increases to $150 a day, the 80-day limit is gone and the provision that the leaders have to be at the Capitol is gone. That could allow Tomblin and House Speaker Rick Thompson, D-Wayne, to collect the $150 almost every day.
Each leader could claim total maximum compensation of $75,800 under the new law. The most they could claim under current law is $35,900.
Also, lawmakers agreed to increase the extra daily pay of the majority and minority leaders of both chambers from $25 to $50 during sessions.
The House speaker and Senate president can also each designate up to four members to receive an additional $25 daily pay for "duty day compensation," for up to 30 days when the Legislature is not in session, the new law allows the leaders to designate up to six members each.
Thompson has previously said he has no intention of designating that many; Tomblin has made no comment.
To contact staff writer Tom Searls, use e-mail or call 348-5198.
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