California lawmakers getting paid when they don’t show up
By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee
California legislators collected tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded per diem payments for floor sessions they did not attend this year, records show.
Failing to show up for work typically did not hurt lawmakers’ pocketbooks: Only about one of every four absences included the loss of the tax-free $142 per day in living expenses.
The bulk of compensated absences was tied to medical ailments or to lawmakers who missed floor sessions at the same time they were campaigning for higher office.
Derek Cressman of Common Cause said that absent lawmakers had better have a good excuse for voters who depend upon them.
