Compensation Commission                           2627

(b) Added political problems could be created for the presiding
officers whereby competition for committee chairmanships could be en-
couraged through higher salaries instead of the primary requisite: a
willingness to assume additional responsibility as a legislator.

C.    Actual Expenses Incurred during Legislative Service

A salary increase to $11,000 must be accompanied by removal of all
existing per diem expense allowances and compensation. The Commission
believes that per diem payments have been partially fostered by failure of
the electorate to approve, by constitutional amendment, a salary repre-
senting adequate total compensation paid each legislator. We believe that
an $11,000 salary is adequate and that it must represent total compensation
to maintain public trust in the legislative branch of Maryland government.

Instead of per diem payments which were opposed by all witnesses who
testified, the Commission recommends that actual expenses incurred in the
course of legislative duties be reimbursed on a vouchered basis, subject to
a maximum of $25 per day. Reimbursement for actual expenses will
compensate the legislator who must remain in Annapolis overnight because
of distance from his home and the requirements of legislative business.
This reimbursement is appropriate both during a session and between
sessions of the General Assembly when the member is attending sessions
and between sessions of the General Assembly when the member is attend-
ing sessions of the Legislature or of committees. We believe that vouchered
expenses help maintain legislative procedures on a business basis, identical
to requirements for all State employees. A legislator who desires to com-
mute to and from his home is entitled to a mileage allowance in lieu of
reimbursement for lodging expenses.

D.    Pension for Members of the General Assembly

Chapter 281 of the Laws of Maryland of 1966 adopted a pension plan
for members of the General Assembly, which continues in the law today
as Article 73B, Section 11(13) of the Maryland Code (1970 Replacement
Volume). With only one relatively minor amendment (Chapter 458 of the
Laws of Maryland of 1970) this plan has remained unchanged since its
adoption.

By letter dated January 11, 1971, the Attorney General of Maryland,
pursuant to a written request from this Commission, advised the Commis-
sion that, subject to certain limitations, it had the power to examine and
modify the existing pension structure. It became necessary then for the
Commission to give study to the existing pension system and then review
it also in light of the recommendations which have already been discussed
above. Under the existing system, legislators make a contribution in the
amount of 15% of their annual "compensation". In return for this, the
legislator, after 16 years of service at any age, or after eight or more years
of service at age 55, receives an annual pension for life from the State
calculated at one-twentieth (l/20th) of his "highest annual earnable
compensation" for each year of service, not to exceed one hundred percent
(100%) after twenty (20) years. The system is optional, rather than
mandatory, and there is also a provision that members of the General
Assembly in active service at the time of the commencement of the plan
(July 1, 1966) could contribute a statutorily defined amount of money for
past years of service in order to receive benefits therefor.