Bill targets per diem, but not for lawmakers

In fact, Chambers' bill goes to great lengths to protect lawmakers, even so far as to say if a lawmaker serves on a board or commission, then the lawmaker can still get per diem for that work. Other members of the same commission? Not so much.

"It's giving notice to the rest of the state we just don't have any money," Chambers said, noting that lawmakers are searching for ways to cut hundreds of millions from a state budget that has shrunk by $3 billion in just a few years. Chambers said she wasn't sure yet how much money the bill would save.

As for lawmakers still getting their per diem, which is $173 per day, Chambers said House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) has already ordered representatives only to take per diem expenses for days the General Assembly is in session. But Marshall Guest, Ralston's spokesman, said the speaker's message only applied to the recent two-week break lawmakers took. Ralston said only members who served on committees that were meeting during that break should take per diem, Guest said.

Chambers said the people serving on Georgia's more than 140 boards and commissions, each of whom can receive $105 per diem, should be willing to share the state's pain.

"If they're serious about what they're doing for the state of Georgia and the mandated purpose of the authority, they're going to meet anyway, whether they get paid or not," she said.

But Chambers' bill exempts lawmakers who serve on at least one board from the loss of per diem. Legislators who serve on the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel, which creates review procedures and data collection systems on child deaths, would still qualify for per diem compensation. But "those members of the panel who are not state officials or employees shall receive no compensation whatsoever for their service on such panel," the bill says.

Two lawmakers serve on the panel, Rep. Melvin Everson (R-Snellville) and Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain). Everson said he has never taken the per diem for the seven to 10 meetings the panel has per year. But, he said, Chambers' bill should treat all panel members the same.

"If you remove the per diem for some, remove it for everyone," he said.

Efforts to reach Butler were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Chambers said her bill was born out of frustration over her inability to simply eliminate boards and commissions. She has tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the Georgia Courts Automation Commission, which she and other lawmakers say is no longer needed. A bill to do that passed the House last year but has stalled in the Senate. The commission has an annual budget of about $600,000.

"I wanted to repeal most of those, but seeing the challenges I'm having on the Courts Automation Commission, this [bill] will show us who's serious about serving the state of Georgia rather than doing it for personal or political reasons," Chambers said. "I suspect we'll see only a handful of boards and commissions complain."