Of Course Lawmakers Should Get Their Meals Paid For
MINOT, N.D. — Pay for public officials, as an issue, has always been a handy can of gasoline for a certain breed of obnoxious populist ninny to pour on the fires of public discord.
It is fashionable among the hoi polloi to dislike those in elected office (forgetting, I suppose, the identity of the idiots who elected them). The seeds of resentment toward compensation for elected officials often find fertile ground with the electorate.
That’s the case with legislation currently under consideration in Bismarck, which would provide a modest daily allowance for meals payable to those lawmakers who live outside of the state capital. House Bill 1424, introduced by Rep. Keith Kempenich, R-Bowman, would let lawmakers claim up to $35 per day for meals while the Legislature is in session.
This is the same amount state employees claim while traveling.
