BOISE - At the dawn of each year, Idaho legislators meet in Boise to pass laws, debate policy and decided how to spend the state budget.

While governing the state, the lawmakers are asked to place their jobs, families - their lives, essentially - on hold for months at a time. Miles from home, they have to find places to live and ways to sustain themselves after long hours or committee meetings and floor debates.

For their labor, most state lawmakers last year were paid about $30,000 - a $16,116 base salary, a $2,200 lump-sum payment "for maintaining the office of the legislator," and $10,004 in per diem. The per diem is a flat $122, tax-free payment for each day they're in session at the Capitol.

Few people realize that lawmakers are paid so much in per diem.

Fewer still know that lawmakers also get fringe benefits and gifts that considerably sweeten the pot.

Not a fortune

A dozen lawmakers interviewed for this story said their compensation is adequate, if modest.

"Obviously nobody's in it to make money," said Sen. Tom Gannon, R-Buhl. "You're not living like a king. But it's not costing you to be up here."

Gannon and others say no one joins the Legislature to get rich, and the pay looks even less generous when the year-round work of a lawmaker is taken into account. Throughout the year, legislators spend untold hours meeting with constituents, racking up the miles on their personal vehicles and spending time away from their regular jobs. Many say that retirees, the self-employed or well-to-do are best able to afford it.

Former Republican House Speaker Bruce Newcomb of Burley, who served for 19 years, said the compensation is low, and that most lawmakers lose money. He said his accountant told him he lost $5,000 his first year in Boise.

"They should be getting more, in my view," said Newcomb, who is now retired from politics. "The current system says that unless you can get away from your job for three months or (you have) saved up enough money you probably can't afford to be in the Legislature."

But the total compensation lawmakers received in 2007 was only about $2,000 less than the average salary earned by Idahoans, $32,225. And unlike members of the Legislature, most working stiffs have to pay income tax on all of their earnings.

Moreover, lawmakers receive a number of valuable perks and benefits that go with the office but seldom are mentioned when they tell constituents how little they make.

Keith Allred, executive director of the non-partisan group The Common Interest, said voters are interested in what lawmakers are paid because money does matter.

"Citizens want to have confidence that their legislators are there for the best reasons and not as an excuse to make money," Allred said.

Money matters

How much time a lawmaker spends on the job can vary greatly, though many arrive at the Capitol well before dawn and leave well after sunset. And many put in extra time on committees and task forces that meet between sessions. Last year the two chambers combined had about 20 such committees.

"There are probably people here working for $20 an hour but there are also people working for 10 cents an hour," said Sen. Chuck Coiner, R-Twin Falls. "We could make money by not being here. I don't think there's a single person who couldn't make more money somewhere else."

The Idaho Legislature is a "citizen's legislature," meaning that members aren't considered full-time workers and the pay only compensates for time away from regular work.

The National Conference of State Legislatures classifies Idaho as one of 17 states where lawmakers spend less than 70 percent of their time on legislative matters. In those states, the average salary is $15,984 ��" far less than the nearly $70,000 average pay to members of the nation's 10 full-time Legislatures.

Some Idaho lawmakers do take home a little more than others: Senate President Bob Geddes, R-Soda Springs, and House Speaker Lawerence E. Denney, R-Midvale, each get $4,000 more because of their leadership responsibilities.

Some get a lot less: Temporary replacements for ailing members, such as former Sun Valley Mayor Jon Thorson, who recently stepped in for Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, get only the per diem.

But all legislators can bill the state for a trip home each week during the session, and if they're on state business between sessions they are reimbursed for meals, lodging and travel - but get no per diem.

On the fringe

Like other state employees, the 105 members of the Legislature are entitled to fringe benefits ��" medical, dental and vision care, and a pension. They pay the same monthly insurance premiums as all state workers - 22 percent of the actual cost of the insurance coverage.

In dollars, that means a legislator with a spouse would pay between $87 and $100 per month, depending on the plan they select. The state pays the lion's share of the premium - $594 per month, or a benefit to the legislator of about $7,128 per year.

According to the State Division of Human Resources, workers in the private sector on average pay 30 percent of the total cost of health insureance benefits.

State workers are required to contribute at least 6.23 percent of their pay to the Public Employee's Retirement System of Idaho, and can voluntarily put more into the system and start collecting benefits after they reach age 55.

The same is true for legislators, but unlike state workers who must put in five years on the job before they're vested in PERSI and can receive the plan's maximum benefit, lawmakers are fully vested with their first paycheck.

"Once they are appointed or elected and receive salary, they are automatically contributing to PERSI," said PERSI Deputy Director Don Drum.

Getting full-time benefits for a part-time job is a good deal ��" so much so that 82 of the 105 legislators choose to invest in PERSI and 92 get their medical and dental coverage through the state.

All of them are covered by life insurance policies that are 100 percent paid by the state.

Per diem puzzle

The legislative per diem is intended to cover living expenses ��" meals, lodging, travel and everything else associated with their work in Boise. It's paid in a lump sum, no receipts required; few questions asked.

"What they call per diem, it's almost just like salaries because they don't have to put in any receipts," said Jasper LiCalzi, a College of Idaho professor of political economy. "Some say, 'We want to run government like a business' but no business runs a business without receipts â€- The other side of that is how many people do you want to be looking at receipts?"

Legislators who live outside of the Boise area and who must maintain a second residence during the session receive $122 per day of the regular session, including weekends. Last year, 49 representatives and 25 senators ��" including all 15 south-central Idaho legislators ��" received this amount.

Lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the Capitol get $49 per day for expenses, plus as much as $25 per day for commuting costs. Twenty-one representatives, 10 senators and Lt. Gov. Jim Risch were covered by this per diem, which is subject to the income tax.

But six lawmakers ��" Carlos Bilbao, Darrell Bolz, Bob Ring and John McGee, all of Caldwell; and Steven Thayn and Brad Little, both of Emmett ��" received the full $122 even though their primary residences are inside the 50 mile mark. All six also maintain a place close to the Capitol, so they fall under the second-residence rule, though they have to pay tax on their per diem.

How the lawmakers spend their per diem is up to them. About half of the members of the Magic Valley delegation own homes in the Boise area, though some, like Rep. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, stay in hotels and still others, like Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Delco, bunk in with Boise-area relatives ��" in Darrington's case it's his daughter, Lyn, a contract lobbyist.

Friends with money

Lawmakers commonly stretch their per diem dollars by letting someone else pick up the check.

For much of the session various lobbyists and interest groups hold daily breakfasts, lunches, dinners, receptions ��" and even free movie nights and catered go-kart races - for all lawmakers, and all for free. Attendance is voluntary and it varies, though newer members are more likely to attend. One day last week, for example, lawmakers lunched with the Farmer's Insurance and dined with Boise State University.

Then there's the power lunch. Each day dozens of lobbyists mill around the doors of each legislative chamber hoping to catch a willing ear in return for a sandwich.

Longtime lobbyist John Watts said he takes lawmakers to lunch every day because their time is so limited.

"Unless you want to set state and public policy with two minute conversations ��" which I don't think is a very smart thing to do ��" there's no other way," he said.

In theory, an amenable lawmaker could go the entire session without spending a per diem dime on a meal. Because no one keeps track of these meals, it's hard to say if any do.

Some say they'd rather skip the lobbying. Five-term Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, said he'll only attend meals with constituents.

There are other informal financial rewards that come to legislators ��" small gifts that appear like clockwork.

Last week, for example, the United Dairymen of Idaho distributed cooler bags stuffed with milk, cheeses and other dairy products to members of the House Agricultural Affairs Committee.

Legislators can legally accept any gift that is not aimed at influencing a specific piece of legislation. Lobbyists are not required to report who they lunch with as long as the bill is less than $50.

Up for a raise

Lawmaker's salaries are reviewed every two years, between legislative sessions, by the Legislative Compensation Committee, whose six members are appointed by the governor and the Supreme Court.

The committee last met in 2006, when it gave lawmakers a 3 percent pay raise ��" along with a 23 percent increase in per diem and a 29 percent boost in the lump sum for office needs. The last raise before then was in 2000.

The commission's work normally goes unnoticed by the general public but recently the committee was pulled into the spotlight when Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter appointed his former chief of staff, Jeff Malmen, to fill a vacancy. Malmen, now a lobbyist for Idaho Power, would have been in the position of setting pay and per diem for the people he approaches about pending legislation. He decided to pass up the post after the Times-News asked about the appointment. Otter has not yet replaced him.

The committee will meet again this year, and could give lawmakers a bump to cover inflation, to match increased travel costs and perhaps in recognition that lawmakers are spending more and more of their time doing state business.

Jared S. Hopkins can be reached at 420-8371 or at jhopkins@magicvalley.com