Full House vote on expenses rejected

02/27/2007

Rachel E. Stassen-Berger
Pioneer Press


The Minnesota House on Monday turned back a move to force the full House to vote on lawmakers' expense payments.

By a 69-60 vote, House members decided they wanted the Rules Committee — not the full House — to deal with the issue. The vote today means the Rules Committee will determine if the full House should later take a vote on the payments.

Usually, the full House need not vote on such changes. But this year, after the Rules Committee voted to increase lawmakers' expense payment from $66 to $77 a day, some representatives agitated for a full House vote on the payment.

A similar controversy arose in the Minnesota Senate this year, after members of the Senate Rules Committee voted to increase their per diem payments from $66 to $96 a day.

Last week, the full Senate ratified the increase on a 59-7 vote. In a twist, senators who voted "no" won't receive any per diem unless they specifically request the payments at a later date.

During hours of debate Monday, members of the House also referred many other potential compensation changes to the Rules Committee.

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