Alaska lawmakers can't refuse increase in office allowance

"I wanted to have the ability not to participate in that increase," Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, told the Legislative Council, the joint House-Senate committee that manages the Legislature's business. "We were told summarily that we couldn't."

The council on Feb. 24 increased the annual office allowance for House members from $8,000 to $16,000 and for senators from $10,000 to $20,000. It backdated the raise to Jan. 1, assuring all the money could be collected this year.

Legislators have broad discretion for spending the allowance, including taking it in a lump-sum check and paying income taxes on it. According to the Legislative Affairs Agency, nine of 60 legislators do that this year, effectively adding to their $50,400 annual salary.

"They can spend it on whatever they want," said Pam Varni, director of the Legislative Affairs Agency. "They don't get as much money to use because they're paying taxes on it."

Legislators can avoid taxes on the money by asking the agency to manage it in a state account and disperse it only when they present receipts for official expenses. The remaining 51 either do that or combine a partial lump-sum payment, with taxes withheld, with a managed account.

The raise was little noticed outside of the Legislature. The Feb. 24 meeting began after 5 p.m.

According to the minutes of that meeting, Stoltze voted against the raise, which passed 10-4.

The raise was sought by Rep. Bob Herron, D-Bethel. He didn't return a call Thursday requesting comment.

But the chair of the council, Sen. Linda Menard, R-Wasilla, said in an interview that rural legislators in particular needed the extra money to travel across their far-flung districts. She said she polled all 60 legislators privately, and that three-fourths of them favored the raise.

Menard said the allowance had remained untouched for a decade.

"They didn't do inflation-proofing for 10 years, plus the cost to do business has gone up," Menard said. "It's going to be a long time before they're going to look at this again."

But the raise was substantially greater than inflation. Had it been based on the rising cost of living, House members would have gotten about $2,000, Senators about $2,500, according to 10-year data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Menard acknowledged that many Alaskans would view the increase as a back-door salary raise. That's exactly how Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak, described it at the Feb. 24 meeting, before voting against it.

"He said he again wanted to object to doubling the office allowance which is basically a raise to Legislators," said the minutes of the meeting.

Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, supported the increase, saying that some Alaska residents automatically oppose any additional spending regardless of its justification. After the Feb. 24 meeting, Stoltze said he asked the Legislative Affairs Agency to keep his allowance at $8,000. He said he was stunned when Varni said it couldn't be done under Legislative Council policy.

So on Thursday, he asked the council to change its policy. Stoltze said he wasn't trying to show up any other legislator, had not issued a statement to the media, had not engaged in fanfare.

"I don't want to make a judgment of what a rural member does," he said later in an interview. "I'm trying not to be a demagogue on it. It's a policy issue for me -- I'm one of the biggest cheapskates on Leg. Council," he said.

Menard scheduled the matter for the next council meeting, April 7.

Voting Feb. 24 for the increase: Sens. Bettye Davis, D-Anchorage; Dennis Egan, D-Juneau; Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel; Menard, R-Wasilla; Donny Olson, D-Nome; Stedman, R-Sitka; Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak; and Reps. Herron, D-Bethel; Lindsey Holmes, D-Anchorage; Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell.

Voting Feb. 24 against the increase: Reps. Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski; Stoltze, R-Chugiak; Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage; Austerman, R-Kodiak.

Legislators taking the full lump-sum payment in 2011: Sens. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel; Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage; Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage; Donny Olson, D-Nome; Thomas Wagoner, R-Kenai; and Reps. Mike Chenault, R-Kenai; Kurt Olson, R-Soldotna; Bill Thomas, R-Haines; Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell.