December 18, 2001
Issue Number 34
Some figures in this report were updated Dec. 20 to correct math mistakes



Readership of the Legislative Bulletin is restricted to employees of NCCBI member companies. If you have colleagues who you think would benefit from the Bulletin, you can register them by clicking here.

Printout:
Get a printout of this Special Report
Printout of the wrapup covering the 2001 session:
Part One, Part Two
Back Issues:
Index of prior issues

E-mail your legislator: Get updated lists of the address, phone number and e-mail address for every House and Senate member. Or send an e-mail to all 170 legislators.

Useful Web sites:
Legislature
Governor's page
Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
Trial Courts
Institute of Govt.
NCCBI
NAM
U.S. Chamber
NC Magazine


NCCBI members have visited this page since Dec. 18, 2001.

Per diem money boosts average pay in House to $56,517
Staying in Raleigh for the longest legislative session in state history made life harder for members of the General Assembly, but many of them compensated themselves in the wallet by accepting up to $12,000 in overtime pay. That's how much extra income legislators were entitled to, and which 92 of the 170 members claimed, for staying in session past the typical adjournment time. Lawmakers get a $104 per diem allowance seven days a week even when actually meeting three or four days most weeks. Those $104 days really add up when the session stretches out 17 weeks longer than the comparable 1999 term.

House members on average took home more than members of the Senate -- $56,517 vs. $51,428 -- mainly because most House members claimed the $104 per diem pay for every one of the 317 days of the session. No senator claimed more than 278 days. The per diem pay takes the sting out of the small base salary legislators receive of only $13,951.

According to the Legislative Services Office, the total cost for legislators’ pay and expenses this year was about $8.9 million, which translates into a taxpayer-footed legislative payroll of about $28,000 a day, seven days a week.

Read the executive summary, which details how the figures are computed. The three stories below list total compensation for all 170 legislators:

Perks push leaders compensation well above the rest
Rank and file legislators earn $13,951 in base pay, but the eight elected House and Senate leaders earn much more and also are given generous office allowances. Those perks pushed House Speaker Jim Black, whose base legislative salary is $38,151, to the top of the pay list. Story, chart.

Majority of House claimed maximum per diem money
Ninety-two of the 120 members of the House claimed the $104 per diem pay for each of the 317 days of the 2001 legislative session. Taking the $32,968 maximum per diem for the session pushed the incomes of most House members substantially higher than their Senate counterparts. Story, chart.

Senate's point about good government costs members in the wallet 
After the Senate passed its redistricting plan, it sat on its hands for many days while the House struggled with the issue. To make a point about the wasted time, senators refused to accept their $104 a day per diem money for much of that period. Doing so cost senators several thousand dollars in pay. Story, chart.