By Andrew Oxford | Arizona Republic
A lawmaker from Prescott is proposing to raise the daily allowance legislators from outside Maricopa County receive to pay for lodging while working in Arizona’s capital city.
Legislators from rural communities have complained for years that their stagnant per diem rates do not go far enough to cover the cost of accommodations around Phoenix during their annual sessions, which happen to coincide with one of the busier times of the year for hotels in the Valley.
/Photo: Arizona Legislature
All legislators currently receive $35 a day for every day they are in session. Lawmakers who live outside Maricopa County get an additional $25, for a total of $60 a day.
Some lawmakers have taken to living out of motor homes, sleeping on the couches of family members or sharing condos.
“They don’t think enough of us to pay for a hotel room,” said Rep. Noel Campbell, R-Prescott, who is sponsoring House Bill 2163.
Campbell is proposing to increase the rate for lawmakers outside the Valley to the same rate used by the federal government, which is $146 this time of year. Similar to current law, the amount would be cut in half when sessions last longer 120 days.
