I am not here today to reprimand, but to express my extreme admiration for the audacity, creativity and sheer absurdity employed by one of the brightest members of the Arizona Legislature.
I’m not talking about Wendy Rogers, R-anywhere.
Rogers’ fraud is claiming to live in the district she represents. She claims she lives in a mobile home in Flagstaff, not her longtime home in Tempe or the new home she recently bought in Chandler for $750,000.
No, Congress’s Manager of the Year award goes to Rep. Jacqueline Parker.
Parker moves 19 miles, raises salary
Parker is perhaps best known for firing Arizona Republic reporter Don Boles, who spent years exposing organized crime and confronting corrupt politicians until he died in June 1976 when a bomb exploded under his car.
“So the only thing this guy did was he was a reporter?” Parker asked earlier this year at a meeting of Republican lawmakers to consider whether he was the right person to privately finance a monument to Wesley Bolin Square. (They decided he wasn’t.)
Parker, on the other hand, has some notable achievements of her own.
The lawmaker, a lawyer and member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, seems to have figured out a way to collect more than $35,000 (and growing) in daily payments this year, while lawmakers just a few miles away receive only $4,000 to $5,000.
She did so by moving from Mesa to another home in her district, Santan Valley, an unincorporated area of Pinal County near Queen Creek, 29 miles away.
It’s perfectly legal. But it stinks.
Especially considering that the cash she happily stuffs in her pockets comes from Arizona taxpayers.
She now receives $119 a day instead of $10
This story comes from journalist Dillon Rosenblatt, who specializes in tracking public records and writing about them. Fourth Estate 48 Newsletter on the substack.
Rosenblatt obtained per diem and mileage records from the longest legislative session in history to see how much our nation’s leaders are cutting per diems and commuting costs to and from Capitol.
Never mind that Congress is on vacation for eight weeks. Don’t confuse it with a vacation from a month ago.
It turned out that Parker was collecting $119 a day, the daily rate given to legislators living outside of Maricopa County at this extension of the term, rather than the $10 a day he would have collected if he had continued to live in his former residence in Maricopa County.
Parker declined to comment through his secretary, instead directing me to House Press Secretary Andrew Wilder and assuring me that nothing malicious was going on here.
“She submitted a formal statement to the House regarding her new residence and mileage on December 1, 2022, more than a month before the session began, and was fully compliant with House rules,” Wilder said. “That form is what the House uses to calculate per diem and mileage reimbursements.”
Plus, the taxpayer pays for her mileage.
It is unclear when exactly she moved.
Ms. Rosenblatt reports that she did not move her voter registration until May 31, and is listed as a Mesa precinct board member in Maricopa County records dated May 5.
Whatever her reason for moving to Pinal County, the payoff is clear.
Records show that as of June 23, Parker had collected $35,462 in daily expenses, with an additional $119 per day, seven days a week during the Congressional holidays.
(For the first 120 days of the session, legislators living outside of Maricopa County will be paid $238 per day to cover the cost of having to temporarily reside in the Valley, reduced to $119 on the 121st day, while the daily allowance for Maricopa County legislators is $35, reduced to $10 per day on the 121st day.)
Amount we pay:To cover legislative fees?
Please don’t point out that her commute time has increased. We will pay for that as well.
Parker was reimbursed $6,536 as of June 23, based on her report of driving 10,012 miles between her home in Pinal County and the Capitol by June 23.
Add in a $24,000 salary, and she’s making in the bank — $66,000 as of June 23, but the cash register keeps ringing.
Arizona’s per diem law is broken
It’s a great trick if you can pull it off, and by law, she absolutely can.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know that one of our leaders moved just 29 miles down the road and, courtesy of us, cashed in $238, now $119 per day, 24/7? Even on vacation?
Congressman Parker, I salute you for your keen financial acumen.
Of course, Parker’s cutting machine is evidence A of why Congress should derail the per diem gravy train and tighten the law. (Not that it will never happen.)
Simply put, lawmakers should not be paid to cover non-existent expenses.
If the distance doesn’t mean we have to move to the Valley temporarily, why should we pay the rent?
To contact Roberts, laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. follow her on her twitter @ Laurie Roberts.
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