Moe votes against hike in House per diem

By Brad Swenson

Pioneer Staff Writer

Faced with daunting state budget decisions, Rep. Frank Moe on Thursday decided against boosting expense pay for lawmakers.

While only on the job two days, the freshman lawmaker faced a controversial vote in one of his new panels, the House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee.

The panel voted to increase per diem expense pay for House members by $10, to $66 a day, and to boost the monthly housing allowance from $1,100 to $1,200. Approved on a voice vote, it marked the first per diem increase since 1997.

“Obviously, myself and a handful of others are concerned that we’re cutting or holding even funding for education and health care,” said Moe, DFL-Bemidji. “State employees negotiated contracts where they barely got a pay increase, yet we’re looking at changing our per diem. So I thought was not a good start.”

House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, and chairman of the committee, defended the move.

“It’s been a long time since it was raised,” he said. “It reflects the current times and the amount members incur on expenses. It’s a modest increase.”

This year’s increase brings the House to the same level as the Senate, which adjusted its allowable rate to $66 a day in 2001. Members can claim less or refuse it altogether.

Cristine Almeida, the chief of staff for the DFL Senate majority, isn’t aware of any plans to raise the Senate allowance this year. “There has not been any sort of hue and cry in the Senate for a reexamination,” she said.

Moe said he would not accept the extra housing or per diem.

“I argued against both in our caucus and voted against both of the raises in the Rules Committee,” he said. “When I campaigned for and received this job, I understood my pay to be a certain level. It is wrong for me to then come in and immediately vote to raise my own pay.

“Also we’re going to be hard-pressed to give any increases to any state employees or programs at all,” Moe said. “Representatives should not get increases either. I will not accept either the housing or per diem increase.”

The per diem is meant to cover meals and other incidental expenses members incur while they are in St. Paul for the session or to conduct other state business. Legislators make $31,140 a year, although leaders get extra pay.

Paulsen said the expense of serving in the Legislature is difficult for some members, especially those who travel to St. Paul from around the state.

“For incumbents to come back here and secretly pass themselves a pay raise is beyond belief, particularly after last year’s legislative stalemate,” Moe said.

First week

Moe said he used his first week in office to craft several bills, among them bonding requests for Bemidji.

Among the 56 bills introduced Thursday, Moe said they include:

K A bill to complete the Paul Bunyan Trail from Brainerd to Bemidji, authored by Reps. Larry Howes, R-Walker, Paul Gazelka, R-Brainerd, and Moe.

K A bill revoking driver’s licenses to certain sex offenders, authored by Howes, Gazelka and Moe.

K A bill to construct a new bridge on state Highway 64 near Akeley, authored by Howes, Rep. Brita Sailer, DFL-Park Rapids, and Moe.

K A bill to assist in the control of the cormorant population on Leech Lake, which Moe said is crucial to the recovery of walleye in the lake, authored by Reps. Howes, Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, and Moe.

Moe said that next week he plans to introduce bills calling for $10 million in bonding for an emerging technologies addition to Bemidji State’s Bridgeman Hall and additions to Northwest Technical College, and soon later a bill authorizing a half-cent Bemidji city sales tax for parks and trails improvements.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s bonding package, announced earlier this week, including nothing for the Bemidji area. The $816 million state building projects bill called for $744 million in bonding.

The only local project was $24.04 million for a new Red Lake Middle School, a holdover from Pawlenty’s 2004 bonding bill, which called for $22.13 million at that time. Some alternations were made to the proposal, the Republican governor, who visited White Earth on Thursday, told reporters.

“I was a bit disappointed with the governor’s bonding proposal,” Moe said “The House version will have to include more for districts represented by Democrats in order to get the votes needed to pass.”

The DFL-controlled Senate posted its bonding bill Thursday, virtually identical to the $949 million bill it failed to approve last year. It would bond for $886.6 million.

It includes the BSU/NTC request, as well as $22 million for the Red Lake school, $1.4 million for a Big Bog Recreation Area Visitors Center at Waskish and $2.4 million for the Paul Bunyan Trail.

On the latter, it would provide $1.5 million for a trail connector at Baxter to the Oberstar Tunnel, $500,000 for a trail underpass at state Highway 197 in Bemidji provided the city matches it, and $400,000 for riprap along the trail at the southeast shore of Lake Bemidji.

Neither the Senate bill nor the governor’s bill includes funding for the $18 million hockey arena/events center proposed for BSU. It was part of the GOP House bonding bill last session.

“I’ll work to get as much as possible in there,” Moe said. “Obviously I’ll be pushing all three Bemidji area projects. I’m confident that the Senate bill will have both the Paul Bunyan Trail and BSU/NTC expansion in it. The question is whether we’ll get support for some or all of the arena project. I’m cautiously optimistic but, as has been the case so far, it will be hard work.”

Moe said he is tentatively planning to hold some district town meetings next weekend.

The story includes material from The Associated Press.