Per diem rankings for state legislators

In reviewing the political websites from the time I was on vacation, I see that the Pioneer Press published a list of per diem that legislators accept. Good for them! Click on this link to see the article and member expense report for a pdf file ranking all House members. Readers of this blog will know that earlier this year, I took a dim view of the increase in the per diem rates for members of the House. We never got the chance to vote on the increase on the floor since it was all done in the Rules Committee. On the list you will see that my per diem for the entire session was just above $3,000, or $35 per day for weekdays only. House members can accept up to $77 per day for seven days a week, which would add up to roughly $11,000 for the five months of the session. My per diem is ranked 133rd out of 134 House members. (My colleague Steve Simon does not accept per diem. There are several former legislators on the list who did not get re-elected or retired who are on the list because they got one small expense reimbursement check and had $0 per diem.) All legislators have the same salary of $31,140.