PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE: State lawmakers received more than $2 million for their lodging and meals during fiscal 2012-13, with the bulk of the taxpayer-funded reimbursements not requiring any receipts for how they spent the money, a Sunday Times analysis of records found.
A breakdown of that amount shows about $1.8 million spent for per diems – daily allowances for lodging and meals that are tax-free and require no receipts for how the money is spent – and nearly $200,000 going for reimbursement of actual expenses for lodging and meals which require receipts…
“There’s a need to offset legitimate expenses incurred by legislators,” said Eric Epstein, cofounder of RocktheCapital.com, who has analyzed legislative spending since the 2005 legislative pay raise controversy. “However, too often per diems are tax-free bonuses that legislators can access without oversight.”… (more)
