The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. — The wave of fiscal austerity rolling through the Statehouse may be powerful enough to sweep away a pillar of extra pay received by the most powerful members of the House and Senate.
A committee is drafting a bill that would limit for the first time the number of “leadership days” ranking Republicans and Democrats could claim outside of the annual 90-day legislative session. There are currently no mandatory caps on self-reported supplemental compensation paid to the Senate president, House speaker and partisan leaders working in the Statehouse.
“Shame on us or the system for not having clear boundaries,” said House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson.
Over the past three years, the top dozen House and Senate leaders billed taxpayers for an average of 86 days of extra compensation, which included payment of a base salary, expense money and mileage. Compensation rates fluctuate from year to year, but each legislative leader received at least $84 per day in salary, $109 per day for expenses and about 50 cents per mile for driving to and from the Capitol.
Proposed legislation before the Senate Ways and Means Committee would establish an annual maximum at 30 days of leadership pay for the House speaker and Senate president. Caps for other legislators would be lower depending on job title.
House and Senate leaders had mixed reaction to proposed adjustments in a Senate bill.
“I spend a lot of time here. If it’s capped, it’s fine. I’ll come up here anyway. I feel strongly the work needs to be done,” said Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton.
House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, said he would support a “reasonable cap” permitting senators and representatives in leadership to be compensated for work on state government issues. A range of 30 to 40 days annually would be appropriate, he said.
Information compiled by the Kansas Legislature Research Department and obtained by The Topeka Capital-Journal indicates the number of supplemental legislative pay days in 2007, 2008 and 2009 ranged from a low of three reported by Sen. Janis Lee, a Kensington Democrat who is the Senate’s assistant minority leader, to a high of 172 claimed by Morris.
Rep. Melvin Neufeld, an Ingalls Republican who was House speaker for two years, set the one-year high during the period by charging the state for 82 supplemental work days in 2008. In his two years as speaker, he clocked 132 extra work days.
Neufeld said a maximum of 30 days a year wouldn’t have altered his work ethic, but it would have meant he couldn’t be paid fairly for duties performed on behalf of the House.
“I’d just be here a lot of days without pay,” he said. “I don’t think absentee leadership is good.”
His successor as House speaker, O’Neal, filed for 18 leadership days during his first year in the post.
O’Neal said he would endorse an annual threshold of 20 days or less for legislative leaders and would embrace adoption of a permanent legal limit on leadership days rather than a budget measure that expires after one year.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, reported 60 days over the three-year period. His peer on the GOP side, Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, claimed 104 days, but voluntarily stopped submitting daily claims last July.
“I will remain this way through this budget crisis,” said Schmidt, referring to a deficit in the coming fiscal year that could surpass $400 million.
House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, was compensated for 16 days extra last year, while the representative who previously held that job, Rep. Clay Aurand, R-Courtland, was paid for a total of 82 extra days over a two-year period.
Davis submitted 22 days of extra pay in 2009, which was less than his predecessor. Former House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, a Greensburg Democrat who is now the state treasurer, was paid for a combined 84 days of extra legislative work in 2007 and 2008.
Hensley, Schmidt, Merrick and Davis would be limited to 20 days annually by provisions of the Senate bill.
The bill being prepared by the Senate committee would limit chairmen of the House and Senate budget committees to no more than 15 days extra.
The Senate vice president and House speaker pro tem would top out at 10 days of supplemental pay, while the assistant minority and majority leaders of the House and Senate would be held to five days extra. All other legislators would no longer be eligible for extra pay days tied to leadership roles.
The committee’s reforms, if adopted by the Senate and House and accepted by Gov. Mark Parkinson, would be effective July 1.
