SF0061 • 2023

Legislator per diem.

AN ACT relating to per diem rates; increasing the statutory per diem rate for specified legislative activities; increasing per diem rates that are based upon the legislative rate; providing for adjustment of the per diem rate; providing applicability; providing appropriations; and providing for an effective date.

Budget Elections

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Mgt Council
Last action: 2023-03-09
Official status: enrolled
Effective date: 7/1/2023

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details on how the additional funds will be used or distributed, leaving some uncertainty about implementation specifics.

Legislator Per Diem Act

This law sets and adjusts per diem rates for Wyoming legislators based on federal government standards, providing funding to supplement these new rates.

What This Bill Does

Sets the per diem rate (daily allowance) for Wyoming legislators equal to the most recent U.S. General Services Administration rates for locations within Wyoming.
Adjusts the per diem rate annually starting July 1 of each year based on federal standards.
Provides funding from the general fund to supplement new per diem rates for legislators and other state officials tied to legislator per diem amounts.

Who It Names or Affects

Wyoming legislators
Members of state boards, commissions, councils, authorities or other entities whose rate of per diem is based on the amount paid to legislators

Terms To Know

Per Diem: A daily allowance given for expenses like food, lodging, and travel.
General Services Administration (GSA): An agency of the U.S. government that sets standard rates for per diem allowances.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how the new funding will be used or distributed.
It is unclear if all state boards and commissions will receive additional funds to cover increased per diem costs.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SF0061H2001

2nd reading • Representative Heiner

Failed

Plain English: The amendment changes the bill to reduce legislators' per diem payments by half if their home is within 25 miles of where they attend legislative meetings or sessions.

Changes the wording from 'increasing' to 'amending'.
Adds a new rule that reduces per diem rates for legislators whose homes are less than 25 miles away from where they attend committee meetings or legislative sessions.

The amendment text does not specify how the reduction in per diem will be implemented or enforced.

SF0061H3001

3rd reading • Representative Yin

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment allows legislators to choose not to receive the increased per diem rate by voting against the act, with an option to switch later.

Legislators can opt out of receiving the higher per diem rate if they vote against enacting this bill.
If a legislator opts out initially, they may request to receive the higher rate at any time in writing.

The amendment does not specify what happens if a legislator changes their mind after receiving the increased per diem for some time.

SF0061H3002

3rd reading • Representative Henderson

Withdrawn

Plain English: The amendment removes a previous change and updates the date when per diem rates for legislative activities are adjusted.

Removes the changes made by the Yin third reading amendment (SF0061H3001/A).
Changes the date from July 1 to October 1 for adjusting per diem rates.

The exact nature of the removed changes is not specified, so their content and impact are unknown.

SF0061H3003

3rd reading • Representative Slagle

Failed

Plain English: The amendment adds a requirement for the state auditor to review per diem rates every four years and report findings to the joint appropriations committee.

Adds language requiring the state auditor to conduct a review of per diem rates established by the U.S. General Services Administration for locations within Wyoming every four years.
Requires the state auditor to submit a report on this review to the joint appropriations committee by December 1 each year.

The amendment does not specify how the per diem rates will be adjusted based on the review findings.

SF0061S3001

3rd reading • Senator Laursen, D

Failed

Plain English: The amendment removes previous changes to the bill about per diem rates and replaces them with new rules for calculating daily allowances for legislators based on U.S. General Services Administration rates.

Removes existing language in the bill regarding per diem rates.
Sets a new formula for determining per diem amounts, which will be calculated by the state auditor using recent federal standards but reduced by 30% during legislative sessions.
Further reduces the per diem amount to 25% of the original rate if legislators live within 25 miles of where they are conducting official business.

The exact impact on legislator compensation is unclear without knowing current federal standards and distances from residences.
Details about how this change will be implemented or enforced are not provided in the amendment text.

SF0061JC001

Conference Committee

S Adopted, H Adopted

Plain English: The amendment removes a specific set of changes made by the House to Senate Bill SF0061.

Removes amendments related to per diem rates for legislative activities that were previously added by the House.

The exact details and impacts of the removed House amendments are not provided in the amendment text, making it unclear what specific changes will be undone.

SF0061SS001

Standing Committee • Senate Rules and Procedures Committee

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment changes how legislators are paid daily expenses by setting a new fixed rate and linking it to federal standards.

Removes the existing language about per diem rates on pages 1 and 2 of the bill.
Adds new language that sets a fixed per diem rate of $109.00 for legislators, which will be adjusted annually based on the most recent federal per diem rates.

The exact impact of linking state per diem rates to federal standards is not detailed in the amendment text.

Bill History

2023-03-09 LSO
Assigned Chapter Number 167
2023-03-09 Governor
Governor Signed SEA No. 0079
2023-03-01 House
H Speaker Signed SEA No. 0079
2023-03-01 Senate
S President Signed SEA No. 0079
2023-03-01 LSO
Assigned Number SEA No. 0079
2023-02-22 House
H Appointed JCC01 Members
2023-02-22 Senate
S Appointed JCC01 Members
2023-02-22 Senate
S Concur:Failed 5-26-0-0-0
2023-02-21 Senate
S Received for Concurrence
2023-02-21 House
H 3rd Reading:Passed 33-28-1-0-0
2023-02-17 House
H 2nd Reading:Passed
2023-02-16 House
H COW:Passed
2023-02-15 House
H Placed on General File
2023-02-15 House
H02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 7-0-0-0-0
2023-02-14 House
S12 - Rules:Rerefer to H02 - Appropriations
2023-02-14 House
H03 - Revenue:Recommend Do Pass 6-3-0-0-0
2023-02-09 House
H Introduced and Referred to H03 - Revenue
2023-01-26 House
H Received for Introduction
2023-01-26 Senate
S 3rd Reading:S Bill Reconsideration Motion Failed by Roll Call 6-25-0-0-0
2023-01-26 Senate
S 3rd Reading:Passed 16-15-0-0-0
2023-01-25 Senate
S 2nd Reading:Passed
2023-01-24 Senate
S COW:Passed
2023-01-20 Senate
S Placed on General File
2023-01-20 Senate
S02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 3-2-0-0-0
2023-01-19 Senate
S12 - Rules:Rerefer to S02 - Appropriations
2023-01-19 Senate
S12 - Rules:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 4-1-0-0-0
2023-01-10 Senate
S Introduced and Referred to S12 - Rules
2022-12-28 Senate
S Received for Introduction
2022-12-15 LSO
Bill Number Assigned

Official Summary Text

Bill Summary - 23LSO-0228
Bill No.:

SF0061

Effective:

7/1/2023

LSO No.:

23LSO-0228

Enrolled Act No.:

SEA No. 0079

Chapter No.:

167

Prime Sponsor:

Management Council

Catch Title:

Legislator per diem.

Subject:

Per diem rates for specified state employees, officials and appointees.

Summary/Major Elements:

This bill requires the state auditor to annually set the per diem rate for legislators and all boards and commissions statutorily tied to legislator per diem.

The rate is set at the federal General Service Administrations per diem rates for locations within Wyoming.

This is very similar to the manner in which mileage reimbursement is determined for a legislator under W.S. 28-5-101(d).

Legislator per diem was last increased in 2008, from eighty-five dollars ($85.00) a day to one hundred nine dollars ($109.00) a day.

The bill will provide location rates in Wyoming, which will allow higher per diem rates for meetings held in Teton, Sublette and Park Counties.

There are fifty-two (52) boards and commissions with their per diem statutorily tied to legislator per diem amounts.

The vast majority of the members of those boards and commissions serve without any other compensation.

Comments:

Appropriations
:
One hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000.00) to LSO for the remainder
of the biennium.
Seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) to state auditor for the remainder of the biennium for GF boards and commissions.
The bill provides authorization for spending authority for those boards and commissions who don’t receive general funds to supplement the per diem rate for their boards and commissions (usually paid from licensing fees).
The above summary is not an official publication of the Wyoming Legislature and is not an official statement of legislative intent.

While the Legislative Service Office endeavored to provide accurate information in this summary, it should not be relied upon as a comprehensive abstract of the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

23LSO-0228

ORIGINAL Senate

File No
.
SF0061

ENROLLED ACT NO. 79,

SENATE

SIXTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2023 General Session

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 28
‑
5
‑
101(b) is amended to read:

28
‑
5
‑
101.

Schedule of compensation, per diem and travel expenses.

(b)

The
per diem
amount to be received by each member of the legislature for expenses shall be
one hundred nine dollars ($109.00) per day
equal to an amount to be determined on July 1 of each year by the state auditor that is equal to the most recent per diem rates established by the United States general services administration for locations within Wyoming
.

Section 2.

(a)

There is appropriated one hundred twenty
‑
five thousand dollars ($125,000.00) from the general fund to the legislative service office for purposes of supplementing the per diem provided to legislators as required by this act.

(b)

There is appropriated seventy
‑
five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) from the general fund to the state auditor's office for purposes of supplementing the per diem provided to members of any state board, commission, council, authority or other state entity paid from the general fund whose rate of per diem is based upon the amount of per diem paid to legislators as required by this act.

(c)

For members of any state board, commission, council, authority or other state entity whose rate of per diem is based upon the amount of per diem paid to legislators and is paid from a nongeneral fund source, to the extent funds are available, there is appropriated from those accounts and funds to those entities amounts necessary to supplement the per diem provided to those members as required by this act.

(d)

The appropriations under this section shall be for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 2024.

The appropriations under this section shall not be transferred or expended for any other purposes and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining from the appropriations under this section shall revert as provided by law on June 30, 2024.

Section 3.

This act is effective July 1, 2023.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk