Per diems driving special session costs

The cost to taxpayers of going past the 90-day legislative session set by state law is roughly $1 million – and rising. However, lawmakers can legally have a regular session of 120 days — as they did this year — because it is written into the state Constitution.
(Creative Commons photo by peasap)
The additional costs are driven by the daily allowances that lawmakers receive for each day of the extra legislative time – known as a “per diem” – and the addi