Lawmakers Special Session Costs Taxpayers Big Bucks

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - The price of running the Legislature for an extra month included more than $180,000 in daily expense payments to lawmakers.
The Daily Herald newspaper of Everett reports those $120-a-day per diem payments and mileage reimbursements will continue to add up as lawmakers continue to negotiate a state budget in a second special session.
Friday marked the eighth day of a second extra session for the 147 citizen lawmakers. The final total for those expenses could double before lawmakers pass a two-year spending plan and adjourn for the year.
Legislators earn $42,106 a year and are entitled to receive up to $120 more for each day in a regular or special legislative session to cover expenses such as food and lodging in Olympia. A lawmaker putting in for $120 for each of the regular session's 103 days, for example, was reimbursed $12,360.