Camryn Sanchez
Arizona Capitol Times
Following Arizona Capitol Times coverage on the amount lawmakers collect in per diem, the Senate reminded members they can opt out of payments for the rest of this session, but the House instituted a new policy that members who opt out can never get per diem again.
Lawmakers in Maricopa County are currently making $10 a day in per diem subsistence payments, but rural lawmakers are collecting $119 a day. In the first 120 days of session, Maricopa County lawmakers made $35 a day and rural lawmakers made $238.
State statute says that “each member of the legislature may elect to opt out of receiving subsistence payments prescribed by subsections B and C of this section.”
The law doesn’t go into any more detail about how lawmakers can opt out of per diem payments or how they can opt back in (if at all).
Speaker of the House Ben Toma, R-Peoria, said that because the law doesn’t say anything about opting back in, opting out of per diem is irreversible and members who do will not get any more mileage or subsistence payments through the end of their terms after next year’s session.
The Senate is adopting a completely different policy.
