§ 1052. Members of the General Assembly; compensation and expense reimbursement

(a)(1) Each member of the General Assembly, other than the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, is entitled to a weekly salary of $589.00 for the 2005 Biennial Session and thereafter; provided that, beginning on January 1, 2007, the weekly compensation shall be adjusted annually thereafter by the cost of living adjustment negotiated for State employees under the most recent collective bargaining agreement. The salary of members shall be paid in biweekly installments.

(2) During a special session, a member is entitled to an amount equal to one-fifth of the annually adjusted weekly compensation set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection, rounded up to the nearest dollar, for each day of a special session on which the House of which he or she is a member shall sit.

(b) During any session of the General Assembly, each member is entitled to receive expenses as follows:

(1) Mileage reimbursement. An allowance equal to the cost of one round-trip each day between Montpelier and the member's home for each day of session in which the member did not rent lodging in Montpelier or the vicinity. If a member rents lodging in Montpelier or the vicinity for an entire week of session, the member is entitled to an allowance for the cost of one round-trip for that week between Montpelier and the member's home. The allowance shall be at the rate per mile determined by the federal Office of Government-wide Policy and published in the Federal Register for the year of the session.

(2) Meals and lodging allowance. An allowance in an amount equal to the daily amount for meals and lodging determined for Montpelier, Vermont, by the federal Office of Government-wide Policy and published in the Federal Register for the year of the session, for each day the House in which the member serves shall sit.

(3) Absences. If a member is absent for reasons other than sickness or legislative business for one or more entire days while the House in which the member sits is in session, the member shall notify the Legislative Council staff of that absence, and expenses received shall not include the amount which the legislator specifies was not incurred during the period of that absence.

(4) Intent. It is the intent of the General Assembly that only a member who is away from home and remains in Montpelier or the vicinity on the night preceding or following the day in which that member's chamber met shall receive reimbursement for expenses as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(c) For attending a meeting of the Joint Fiscal Committee when a member is not receiving compensation as a member of the General Assembly, a member of the Joint Fiscal Committee shall be entitled to the same per diem compensation and reimbursement for necessary expenses as provided members of the General Assembly for attendance at sessions of the General Assembly.

(d) If a member of the General Assembly dies while the General Assembly is in session, the estate of the deceased member shall be entitled to receive compensation for the entire pay period in which the death occurred. (Added 1963, No. 31, § 2, eff. April 3, 1963; amended 1966, No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), eff. Jan. 5, 1966; 1967, No. 162, eff. April 15, 1967; 1969, No. 303 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1971; 1973, No. 77, § 50; 1973, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. date, see note set out below; 1973, No. 262 (Adj. Sess.), § 50, eff. April 11, 1974; 1975, No. 163 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. March 18, 1976; 1977, No. 109, § 29, eff. July 3, 1977, § 29a, eff. Jan. 3, 1979; 1979, No. 59, §§ 20, 26, eff. July 1, 1979; 1979, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 23; 1981, No. 249 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 11a, 12; 1983, No. 243 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 17, 17a; 1985, No. 93, § 12; 1987, No. 121, § 16; 1989, No. 67, § 12; 1993, No. 140 (Adj. Sess.), § 104, eff. April 15, 1994; 1993, No. 227 (Adj. Sess.), § 36; 1997, No. 28, § 1b; 2003, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2005; 2005, No. 66, § 1b; 2015, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § E.126.3, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 2019, No. 14, § 75, eff. April 30, 2019.)