Neighbor island lawmakers’ per diem overlooked as 10% raise could go into effect

Neighbor island state senators and representatives continue to earn $225 for every day of the legislative session, weekends and even after the session — valued at nearly half of their $62,604 legislative salaries — even as some have criticized the possibility of legislative pay raises in July.

Several of the eight neighbor island senators and 16 neighbor island House members did not respond to requests for comment on their largely unrestricted per diems, including state Rep. Jeanne Kapela (D, Naalehu- Captain-Keauhou), who has criticized the possibility that legislators might accept a 10% pay raise on July 1 that was deferred last year during the economic calamity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even with the current, 95-day legislative session cut short by a week, neighbor island lawmakers can expect to receive $21,375 in per diems.

After the session, neighbor island House members also could be eligible for an additional $7,200 for working at the state Capitol, with approval from House Speaker Scott Saiki.

In May 2020, Saiki restricted the number of days that House members could seek per diem payments when the Legislature is not in session — to four days per month.

The per diems are in addition to neighbor island House members’ monthly airfare allowance of $1,000 for every month of the year.

The salaries and daily per diem rates are identical in the Senate, but the travel arrangements are different.

Neighbor island senators can take up to six round-trip flights per month during session and one round-trip flight per week when the Legislature is not in session, according to Senate spokesman Jacob Aki.

The daily per diems represent an overlooked part of the money provided to neighbor island legislators during sometimes harsh objections to the possibility that all senators and representatives could receive pay raises of 10%, followed by pay raises of 2.5% in the subsequent three years, possibly starting July 1.

The raises would be part of the recommendations made by the state Salary Commission in 2019 for the governor, legislators, judges and department heads.

Last year the Legislature passed a bill that deferred increasing their salaries to $68,868 from $62,604 during Hawaii’s economic crisis triggered by COVID-19.

The pay raises instead would go into effect July 1, and there is no bill in the Legislature that would postpone them.

The House speaker and Senate president each earn additional pay of $7,500.

Like Rep. Kapela, former state Sens. Russell Ruderman of Puna and Gary Hooser, who represented Kauai and Niihau, criticized the possibility of legislative raises at a time when the Legislature appears unwilling to raise the minimum wage.

“It’s outrageous that the Democratically controlled Legislature is unwilling to hear, let alone pass, a minimum wage increase,” said Ruderman, a Hawaii island businessman with 200 employees. “It’s been an outrage for three years. Hawaii has the highest cost of living, and we have the most Democratically controlled legislature of any state.”

But the former senators also had plenty of criticisms for the neighbor island per diems that they received, while calling some level of compensation necessary.

Neighbor island legislators are given lump sum per diem amounts during the legislative session and do not have to provide receipts or other documentation to be reimbursed for the actual cost of their expenses.

Asked why, Ruderman said, “There’s a culture of, ‘We are royalty. We are sovereign unto ourselves, and no one tells us what to do.’ People love that sense of privilege. I understand the enjoyment of it. But it goes too far in many cases. A little more oversight wouldn’t be a terrible thing.”

Like Hooser, Ruderman also said that per diems are critical for neighbor island legislators for housing, ground transportation, meals and other expenses while on Oahu.

In his eight years in the Senate, Ruderman rented different apartments on Oahu and drove a Nissan Leaf that he later shipped to the Big Island.

He called neighbor island per diems — along with free airfare — “super important. You couldn’t make it work otherwise. That said, we pay a lot more in per diems than are really truly necessary.”

During his eight years in the Senate, Hooser began living in a Waikiki hotel, tried sleeping on a pullout bed in his Capitol office and eventually rented an apartment in Kalihi Valley that he paid for through his per diem.

He also left a car at the airport now known as Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and had to pay for parking.

“Some candidates think they can fly back and forth, but it was just too much,” Hooser said.

But he also said, “There’s very little oversight. No one checks how you spend it.”