The House “per diem” expense reports for the second quarter have been posted on the Legislature’s website, some weeks after the Senate reports.
A quick look indicates only one House member, Rep. Mark Maddox, D-Dresden, billed for motel and travel expenses on an out-of-state trip during the quarter. He made a trip to Washington for a National Conference of State Legislators event.
Fifteen representatives, including Maddox on his NCSL trip, billed for the daily $171 expense allowance while on out-of-Nashville journeys. Presumably, that means they either paid the motel and travel costs themselves or had them covered by the organization sponsoring the event.
The reports also show that some devoted legislators did six-day work weeks during the period, which covered four-day work weeks for in-session activities. They thus collected $1,026 in per diem for those weeks.
None of the six-day workers live within commuting distance of Nashville. They included House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower and Democratic Reps. Lois DeBerry of Memphis, Dennis Ferguson of Harriman, Jeannie Richardson of Memphis, Harry Tindell of Knoxville and Joe Towns of Memphis.
The state Democratic and Republican parties, meanwhile, continue to squabble over the per diem spending of Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas. The latest Democratic release, available HERE, calls for Carr to reimburse the state for out-of-session per diem.
The latest Republican release declares the Democratic criticism “laughable.” It’s not posted online anywhere I can find, but the email sent out to media is posted below, if you’re interested.
Nashville, TN – The following is a statement from Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney regarding the Democrat Party’s recent attacks on State Representative Joe Carr of Murfreesboro.
“The Democrat Party’s attempts at attacking State Representative Joe Carr on an issue like per diems are laughable. Joe Carr, in his first session in the State House, has distinguished himself as a serious, focused and thoughtful legislator. The Democrats’ attempts to paint him using this issue are a joke.
“Democrats readily accept per diems. In fact, Davidson County Democrat Representatives Gary Odom, Brenda Gilmore, and Sherry Jones are at the top of the list. The Democrats are grasping at straws for a political issue because Tennesseans are rejecting their party’s positions on government run health care, cap and trade, and out of control spending.
“Of course, I guess we will continue to endure their silly attacks until Barack Obama’s term in office is over. Until then, their voter distraction will continue.”
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