Per Diems a Costly Expense for General Assembly

(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) — Top Georgia lawmakers billed the state for travel and expenses on more than one out of every four days while the General Assembly was out of session in 2008, 2009 and the first few months of 2010, according to data obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through the Open Records Act.

Overall, lawmakers billed the state for nearly $3.6 million in so-called per diem payments from Jan. 1, 2008, through March 19, 2010, at the same time the state budget was being slashed by $3 billion, teachers and employees were furloughed and state troopers were taken off the roads.

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