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Per Diem Increase

JEFFERSON CITY - The Senate passed a bill to raise its daily expense allowance Wednesday (Feb. 19) after an amendment to link lobbying reform to the measure was ruled out of order.

The amendment would have forced lawmakers to pass legislation limiting gifts received from lobbyists before the allowance -- known as a per diem --could go into effect. Under the Missouri constitution a bill cannot deal with more than one subject.

Sen. Ken Jacob, D-Columbia, raised the point of order that killed the amendment before it could be voted on.

"As I thought about the amendment, I realized that a lobbyist who violated the provision would simply be able to challenge the constitutionality of the statute," Jacob said.

The sponsor of the amendment, Sen. Dave Klarich, R-Ballwin, said he was disappointed that the Senate failed to take a stand on the lobbying expenditure issue.

"I introduced the amendment to tie any increase in per diem to genuine lobbyist reform," he said. "I'm not sure the General Assembly is committed to enacting genuine, realistic lobbyist reform."

Senate President Pro Tem Bill McKenna, D-Barnhart, ruled the amendment out of order because it was unrelated to the original subject of the bill.

"There's no connection between the two," McKenna said. "Lobbying reform is one issue and per diem is another issue. Once you rule that one bill is contingent on another, you can see the problem that develops there. I don't want to start down that path."

The per diem bill's sponsor, Sen. Mike Lybyer, D-Huggins, said he believes the legislature needs to enact lobbying reform.

"I think there would be pressure if we took a per diem increase and didn't do something about lobbying reform," he said. However, Lybyer said he disagreed with attaching the amendment.

The bill would make state lawmaker's per diem pay equal to the federal per diem rate, which is $86 per day.

Currently, lawmakers receive $35 per day.

The per diem will face one more vote in the Senate before in can move to the House.

Just the day before, the House Budget Committee had voted down a similar per diem increase.

Committee members questioned whether lawmakers legally can raise their own expense allowance now that a new constitutional provision as taken effect giving that authority to a salary commission.