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Letter: It’s absurd to dictate more per day

The Columbian
Published: April 1, 2014, 5:00pm

If the March 26 front page article “State senators’ per diem to increase” did not make your blood boil, then you must not be breathing. I did some numbers crunching and, if my high school math is correct, they look like this: Our Washington state House of Representatives have self-served themselves into the legal ability to accept $7,200 of additional compensation for 60 days of work. Our senators will potentially receive $12,600 above and beyond all other incomes and compensation for their proposed 105-day session in 2015.

Both groups have decided that they need an additional $120 a day to make ends meet during legislative sessions (the only non-surprise was that Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, cast the deciding vote for this criminal action).

In contrast — my 82-year-old mother’s sole yearly income is $12,000 in Social Security benefits. This translates into about $33 a day.

Michael J. Meyer

Vancouver

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