Sen. Ballinger’s Slip of the Tongue

The Democrat-Gazette listed the legislators who last year received the most taxpayer money in the form of payments for mileage and per diem, which is in addition to their salaries. The per diem represents a flat payment for lodging, meals, and incidentals.

The top three were State Representatives Jim Dodson of Bentonville ($38,987), Johnny Rye of Truman ($32,947), and Matthew Shepherd of El Dorado ($32,410).

State Senator Bob Ballinger of Berryville received the most in the Senate and was fourth highest in the legislature. Ballinger collected $32,254.

A SLIP OF THE TONGUE

Senator Ballinger’s justification for receiving so much money probably made his colleagues cringe. What Ballinger said reflects how legislators use legislative rules to maximize these payments.

“It is really shocking that I would be at the top [of the Senate],” said Ballinger, who is an attorney. “I only attend the meetings where I have business in Little Rock or it is my meeting,” he said. “It is not like I am going up there to siphon off per diem. I am going there to do my job and going home.”[i]

Oops! Sen. Ballinger’s said he wasn’t “going up there to siphon off per diem,” but in the previous sentence it sounds just like that.

He gave two reasons for collecting the tax-free payments saying, “I only attend meetings” (1) “where I have business in Little Rock;” or (2) “it is my meeting.”

Where he had a slip of the tongue was in saying he goes to committees he is not a member of when he has business in Little Rock. He will want to walk back that statement, because it exposes the prevalent charade many legislators play to get a check for mileage and per diem when they happen to be in Little Rock.

To keep from exposing the charade he could have said something like – I attend my committee meeting and if I am very, very, very extremely interested in an issue I come to Little Rock to attend a meeting of a committee that I am not on.

Coming to Little Rock on business does not qualify a legislator to receive a payment.

A legislator can only collect payments for attending a legislative meeting (any ole legislative meeting will do, even if the legislator is not a member of the committee).

To get around the fact a legislator can’t get paid for being in Little Rock on business, many check the meeting schedule to see what committees are meeting that day so they can go by and get paid. It is easy to do because on most days some committee is meeting.

Stopping by a committee meeting has become a way to get paid when in town on legislative business, personal business, pleasure, or when just passing through town. A legislator signs in and, bingo, the trip qualifies for the payment even though the legislator is not on the committee and may care nothing about the subject matter being discussed that day.

We call these “coffee shop visits” because like a coffee shop you can grab a cup of coffee and visit with some friends, and the meeting is kind of like a television set in the coffee shop, mostly background noise until something entertaining pops up. But unlike a coffee shop the legislator doesn’t pay for the coffee and instead gets a check for stopping in.

Signing in just to get paid is an expensive practice that greatly inflates committee expenditures. It is a common practice. Ballinger just happens to be the guy who spoke to the newspaper and mentioned it by inference.

MONEY FOR THE TAKING

When a legislator comes to town on “other business,” how much money can the legislator make by stopping by and signing into whichever committee is meeting?

“For lawmakers who live more than 50 miles from the Capitol, the per diem was $149 for meetings in Little Rock last year until the end of September. It increased to $151 effective Oct. 1, said Marty Garrity, director of the Bureau of Legislative Research.

For lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the Capitol, the per diem is less, at $55, said Senate Director Ann Cornwell.

Lawmakers were paid the mileage rate of 58 cents per mile last year, and the rate declined to 57.5 cents on Jan. 1 of this year, Garrity said.”[ii]

All that is tax free and funded by taxpayers. No receipts required.

THE POLICY ENABLES THE BEHAVIOR

Until about 1992 a legislator was only paid when attending his or her committee meetings.

The term limits restriction adopted in 1992 limited legislators to three two-year terms in the House of Representatives and two four-year terms in the Senate. With at least a third of the House of Representatives being new members every two years, it was argued legislators needed to be educated more quickly and should be encouraged to attend more meetings, therefore, the legislature adopted the “Y’all Come and Be Paid” policy, which means any legislator who shows up at any committee meeting gets paid.[iii]

Any justification that existed in 1992 is now gone. Term limits are now much longer at sixteen years. More importantly, there is no need to come to Little Rock to learn about what is going on in other committees. All legislative committees are now live streamed (and archived) on the internet. A non-committee member can learn about what is going on in other committees while sitting in his or her own home or business and watching it on a state provided laptop without costing taxpayers a dime in mileage or per diem.

The policy has another downside.  With non-committee members showing up to meetings it disguises the fact some committee meetings are poorly attended by committee members.

Did you know a legislator who spends the night in Little Rock can get even more money by hanging around long enough to sign into another committee before leaving town the next day? Did you know there is an incentive to sign into meetings on as many days as possible to make a profit plus to pay for a Little Rock house or apartment?

Oh, and as for getting taxpayer funded per diem for meals even when the legislator’s meals are bought by lobbyists…. don’t get us started.

The charade won’t end unless you demand change.

Wondering how to watch legislative committees? Check out https://www.arkansashouse.org/watch-live or https://senate.arkansas.gov/todays-live-stream-meetings/

[i] Lawmaker again claims top amount of expense money, Democrat-Gazette, 03/08/2020

[ii] ibid

[iii] https://conduitforaction.org/legislators-receive-huge-expense-payments-much-for-no-good-reason/