Constituent service allowance.

08LSO-0165.L1

FISCAL NOTE

No significant fiscal or personnel impact.

According to W.S. 28-5-106, legislators are entitled to receive a constituent service allowance of $750 per calendar quarter, resulting in a maximum annual allowance of $3,000 per year.

This bill would allow legislators to carry over unused amounts of their quarterly constituent service allowance to subsequent quarters within the same calendar year, as long as the total amount paid in the calendar year does not exceed $3,000. This annual amount shall otherwise be subject to the same conditions and restrictions as the quarterly allowance.

Data from actual claims for the constituent service allowance during the 2005-06 biennium was analyzed in order to arrive at an estimated impact. If this bill would have been in effect for the 2005-06 biennium, the amount of unused constituent service allowance that could have been carried over to subsequent quarters during the 2005-06 biennium is estimated at $25,528.  Since the average constituent service allowance claimed during the 2005-06 biennium was just over $1,500 per year (roughly one-half of the maximum), the amount of unused constituent service allowance that would have been carried over and claimed in subsequent quarters is assumed to be less than the $25,528 estimate.

Of the amounts appropriated for the constituent service allowance during the 2005-06 biennium, a total of $25,899 was unexpended and carried over to the 2007-08 biennium. $300,000 was appropriated for the constituent service allowance during the 2007-08 biennium (2006 Session Laws, Ch. 113). As of October 31, 2007, there was roughly $127,000 unexpended and available for the rest of the current biennium.  It is anticipated that $300,000 will also be appropriated for the constituent service allowance for the 2009-10 biennium. Based on the above analysis, it is projected that this amount will be sufficient to cover the constituent service allowance claims for the 2009-10 biennium, including those claims that would result from passage of this bill.

Prepared by:   Dean Temte, LSO    Phone: 777-7881