The Issue: The Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board approved an increase to the pay for Per Diem given to lawmakers who live too far to commute to Sacramento and must own 2 homes. The increase is from $170 to $173 per day and will be retroactive from October 1st in order to match the federal rate of $173 dollars. The total increase amounts to a projected cost of $72,000 annually.

Citizens generally don’t like the concept of per diem, or pay increases for legislators in general, but the reality is that they are a necessity. Think about it. If there was no per diem to allow for either temporary living and travel or for lawmakers to buy a home near the Capitol, the only people that could be elected to office would be those that could afford to own 2 homes with their own private money.

We hate to think that our elected officials are fat cat carpetbaggers living off of our tax dollar, but we wouldn’t want the alternative.  If we didn’t provide per diem, some of the great lawmakers that have risen up from disadvantaged communities could not have afforded to take office, or to do it effectively.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass released a statement about the Per Diem decision:

“I know voters were frustrated over per diem during the budget delay, and I am hopeful that frustration can be harnessed to do some good and help end the 2/3 budget vote requirement that allows the state to be held hostage and the budget to be delayed in the first place.”

The Speaker has also decided to refuse her per diem raise.

Analysis: The frustrated voters are overreacting.

The actual impact of the per diem is $72,000.  That is peanuts compared to the $3 billion in revenue shortfalls the legislature will try to fix next month.  Voters need to focus on the big important issues: Eliminating the unecessary excesses that exist in the budget and speeding up infrastructure developments without increasing taxes.