Tennessee State Representative Stacey Campfield theorizes that per diem and mileage are the real reasons the House didn't convene with the Senate and conclude the business of the current General Assembly Saturday:
Members of both houses were told last week to come prepared to work through the weekend. The senate stuck to the plan. The house did not. That hurt the senators but helped the house members and will end up costing the state more money.
You see, [Friday] night when we were getting ready to call it a night, the senate had already called it a night and went home. They were scheduled to return in the morning (Saturday) with us to finish the mop up work and call it a session until 2011.
First, it caused a lot of senators to stay an extra day for nothing. With out the house they could not finish their work even if they wanted to. Some things, both bodies have to be present for (Conference committees and such) When the house doesn't show it is like trying to clap with one hand. It does not work. Senators paid for an extra night at a hotel for nothing (They are out of session days to collect per diem) and when they return it will be completely on their own dime as well. Hotel and gas.
The house on the other hand, the story is the complete opposite. By coming in on Saturday they would have collected per diem for Saturday, but if we ran into Sunday, they could not collect per diem for that day.
By putting off session until Tuesday the house can collect per diem for both Monday (as many members plan to come in on) and Tuesday, the last official session day. They also get to collect their mileage expense at about $.50 a mile for another weeks trip expense because they didn't use up that last day on Saturday. For some members that can add up to an extra $300.00 or $400.00 bucks into the house members pocket.
The senate, on the other hand, is out 2 days per diem and a lot of extra driving for nothing. They are not happy.
How do they return the favor?
They do not plan to return until Wednesday. The house will return on Tuesday and collect their last per diem day, but as I said, unless both bodies are present, it does not work. The house will have to stick around and wait for the senate. The Senate is sticking it back to the house members by making them stay at the capitol for an extra per diemless day (Wednesday) to return the favor.
There certainly appeared to be something to Campfield's hypothesis when former House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh rose to announce that members would get no mileage if they stayed until Saturday. The Knoxville News-Sentinel's Tom Humphrey reports that Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey thinks House Speaker Kent Williams did not act in good faith:
Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey said that House leaders, including Speaker Kent Williams, broke an agreement with senators by canceling a Saturday House session and "conniving" to "sneak" controversial provisions into late-developing legislation.
Williams said there was no broken agreement and no conniving. He acknowledged that "tired and irritable" House members had been working much slower and with more quarrelsome debate than anticipated.
There has been squabbling between the House and Senate for much of the year, but that had seemed to dissipate with final passage Thursday of $29 billion state budget bill. Leaders in both chambers said then they intended to adjourn the Legislative session on Saturday.
But the House voted late Friday night, 49-41, to recess until Tuesday rather than meet on Saturday. There were five preliminary and inconclusive votes, coupled with considerable debate, before the delay vote was taken in the House.
Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris certainly feels as though the House of Representatives has dropped the ball.
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