Per diems proving costly to WI taxpayers

Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile. That seems to be what is happening in Madison, where representatives in the state Assembly have been abusing a new policy regarding reimbursement for their time spent working in the capitol. Lawmakers, in addition to their salary, are eligible for reimbursement for things like meal and lodging expenses. Under the current policy, lawmakers per-diem was $138 a day for those staying overnight in Madison. Those who made day trips were eligible for $69 a day. Those numbers are up from the previous limits of $88 a day. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said at the time the higher reimbursement rates were needed to reflect higher hotel rates. But now he is scaling back the per-diem program, telling lawmakers that while the rate of reimbursement will remain the same, they are only eligible to claim per diems a total of 80 times per year. That’s because the total amount of per diem payments went up, costing taxpayers more, under the year old policy. Some lawmakers got more under the recent policy, even though they claimed fewer days spent in the capitol. If Vos wants to get serious about cleaning up abuse in the per diem system, he should demand that lawmakers submit receipts for their expenses. Because right now we are simply taking their word for it, meaning we shouldn’t be surprised lawmakers try to get as much as they think they can get away with.