By Nevada News Bureau Staff: If it is any consolation to cash-strapped state workers, Nevada’s lawmakers will see no pay hike this session and a smaller daily per diem allowance as well.
The 21 members of the state Senate and 42 members of the Assembly will be paid $146.29 a day for the first 60 days of the session starting Feb. 7, the same amount as paid in 2009 to most lawmakers. Some state senators in mid-term earned slightly less.
Lawmakers are entitled to pay hikes based on the salary increases awarded to state employees, but there were no pay hikes approved in the 2009 session. State employees actually are seeing a 4.6 percent loss in pay because of the mandate to take a one-day-a-month unpaid furlough in the current budget.
So lawmakers will earn $8,777 in pay for their service in the 2011 session. Their pay stops after 60 days as specified in the state constitution.
Lawmakers also get reimbursed for daily expenses, but this amount will actually decline from the 2009 session. The per diem rate is based on the federal rate for Carson City, which is $154 a day. In the 2009 session, the rate was $167, so lawmakers will actually see a 7.8 percent reduction.
For the 120 days of the session, the per diem for lawmakers will total $18,480.
