PHOENIX (AP) - Members of the Arizona Legislature have recessed indefinitely to slow the spread of COVID-19, but lawmakers will continue to receive per diem payments.
House and Senate staff confirmed that while in-person meetings have been halted, legislators will continue collecting payments meant to help cover food, lodging and other expenses while the Legislature meets, The Arizona Republic reported.
The payments are in addition to the $24,000 salaries legislators receive.
Full payments will continue through May 11, the session’s 120th day, unless lawmakers opt out or the Legislature adjourns for the year before then.
Legislators could continue receiving payments beyond adjournment, although the $35 daily rate for Maricopa County lawmakers and $60 rate for those who commute from elsewhere would drop to $10 and $20, respectively.
Republican state Sen. J.D. Mesnard said pausing the per diem while in recess makes sense but may not be possible.
“I don’t think you can statutorily even do that if we’re still in session,” Mesnard said.
House Chief Financial Officer Travis Swallow concurred in a message last month to lawmakers inquiring about the indefinite recess.
“State law says members get paid the legislative subsistence every day that they are in a regular or special session,” Swallow wrote. “We are still in session.”
Legislators said they continue receiving a large volume of calls and emails from constituents in crisis.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
None of the lawmakers interviewed by The Arizona Republic said they had problems with per diem payments continuing, possibly because many reported working longer hours than normal.
Representatives “remain on-call and busy” despite the “extended recess period,” House Republican spokesman Andrew Wilder said.
“Though not face-to-face, members continue to regularly conduct meetings and constituent outreach by phone, videoconference/streaming and email from their districts and, on occasion, some from their Capitol offices,” Wilder said in an email.
Senators were “working on a wide swath of issues related to the pandemic,” Senate Democratic spokeswoman Josselyn Berry said.
Lawmakers were “definitely staying busy with constituent concerns and questions and other Senate business during these uncertain times,” Senate GOP spokesman Mike Philipsen said.
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