by Tom Loftus , @TomLoftus_CJ –
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Last December state Rep. Dennis Horlander submitted extraordinary claims to be paid for working 56 various dates in 2016 during the time the General Assembly was not in session, according to legislative pay records.
That request was more than three times larger than any other current legislator filed in December, the Legislative Research Commission’s website reflects. And at the per-day rate of $188.22 for rank-and-file lawmakers, the 56 days translated to $10,540.22 in gross salary later paid to Horlander.
It was also unusual because Horlander sought pay for so many non-session workdays earlier in the year: 13 of the days were in December, but 43 were for various dates in 2016 going back to April 18.
The LRC website also shows that in addition to the days claimed in December, Horlander was previously paid $23,527.50 in 2016 for 125 additional non-session workdays for earlier claims he submitted in the period covering Dec. 1, 2015, through Nov. 30, 2016.
The $34,067.72 total in salary is the highest amount paid to any current legislator for non-session days over that period, according to a review of salary data posted on the LRC website.
Horlander, a Louisville Democrat, did not return numerous phone calls requesting comment over the past week, but he released a statement saying he followed all required procedures for getting his non-session workdays approved by the House Speaker’s Office.
The statement said the delay in claiming many pay dates was because his longtime legislative aide was replaced during the year and some paperwork was misplaced during times when he was sick or “occupied with campaign issues.”
Horlander said, “I submitted several expense vouchers relative to approved travel and workdays that covered a period of eight months to clear up any backlog. I don’t think there were any errors, and the delay and any resulting confusion is unintentional.”
The list of days claimed in December by Horlander, obtained by the Courier-Journal under an Open Records Act request, shows the 56 days included four days for attending a Kentucky League of Cities conference in October, three days for attending the Kentucky Farm Bureau meeting in November and a day in August for groundbreaking for the expansion of the Swain Student Activities Center at the University of Louisville.
The Courier-Journal has examined legislative pay in many recent years and repeatedly found Horlander among the highest paid because of the unusual way legislators are paid as well as former House Speaker Greg Stumbo’s policies for approving members’ requests for working on non-session days.
Senators and representatives alike are paid for each day while in session — $188.22 per day for rank-and-file members with somewhat higher pay for leaders.
But during most months they are not in session, it’s more complicated. House and Senate members are paid for the days they attend interim meetings of the committees on which they sit. Beyond that, it is up to the discretion of the House speaker and Senate president whether to approve pay requests of members who make a case that their activities on a particular day justified compensation as official legislative business.
Stumbo, a Prestonsburg Democrat who was defeated in his bid for re-election last November, had a policy that approved pay for any House member for up to two additional days per month while not in session, if they reported to work in their Frankfort offices. And records of legislative compensation in recent years show that Stumbo also approved many requests of lawmakers — particularly Horlander’s — who requested to be paid for other days for doing things like attending various meetings or events that they justified as legislative business.
“Dennis asked for more days than anybody that I can remember … and we rejected him several times,” Stumbo said. “Some members hardly asked for any of them.”
Stumbo defended his policy as one that allowed members to be more active in legislative matters and stay informed on issues. “I want them to participate,” he said. “Actually, I think we need to go ahead and give legislators a living permanent salary so you don’t have to go through all this. These are full-time jobs for part-time pay.”
Regarding the 56 days Horlander claimed in December, Stumbo said he is certain Horlander filed his requests for working days and got his office’s approval for the specific dates before working them.
“We never allowed somebody to come in afterwards and say, ‘Hey, by the way, I went to that meeting that day,” Stumbo said. “He could have claimed them in the month that they occurred. … Why he banked them and claimed them in December, I don’t know.”
Power changed hands in the Kentucky House on Jan. 3 as a newly elected Republican supermajority picked Republican Jeff Hoover of Jamestown as the new speaker. As speaker, Hoover now has the authority to set the policy for approval of House member workdays when the legislature is not in session.
Hoover’s office did not return numerous phone calls over the past week seeking comment on Horlander’s pay claims and how he might change policies for approving pay for House members on non-session days.
Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at 502-875-5136 or [email protected].
