(The Center Square) — Four special sessions convened by Gov. Jeff Landry since he took office nearly two years ago cost taxpayers nearly $6 million in travel, payroll and other expenses, The Center Square found.
More than $1.15 million was spent on per diem expenses for lawmakers’ lodging and food along with travel to and from the Capitol building in Baton Rouge. Each legislator gets a daily stipend for food and lodging — $166 a day as of 2024 — plus reimbursement for mileage, at roughly 67 cents per mile. Those payments are separate from their $16,800 base salary and $6,000 annual expense allowance.
Most of the cost came from the House of Representatives, which has 105 members, compared to 39 lawmakers in the state Senate. House lawmakers collected $727,440 in per diem expenses. They were paid an additional $115,880 in mileage reimbursements, bringing the chamber’s total per diem-and-travel tab to $843,320.
Senators received $268,946 in per diem over the four sessions, plus $41,197 in mileage, for a total of $310,143.
Staffing the special sessions also added up. Records provided by the House show legislative staff in that chamber was paid nearly $3 million during the months when the sessions occurred, although a handful of workdays were outside the session dates. House staff also received $1.27 million in retirement benefits paid into the state’s pension fund for working the additional time.
Spending on Senate support staff and operations totaled $541,708 for the four sessions.
Special sessions occur outside the legislature’s annual regular session and focus on a topic specified by the governor. They are limited to 30 days each.
Previous governors have also called multiple sessions. Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal convened three in his first two terms. Democrat John Bel Edwards’ list of special sessions included three in 2018 to address a budget shortfall.
Landry, a Republican, has been able to use the sessions to advance the agenda he campaigned on before taking office in 2024 — namely, reducing crime and developing the state’s economy.
In February 2024 Landry called a special session focused on crime. Taxpayers picked up a tab of $301,932 in per diem and mileage, and Landry signed 11 bills into law.
Nine months later, he called lawmakers back to the Capitol to overhaul the state’s tax code. The session cost $493,958 and resulted in changes to personal income and corporate taxes and sales tax rates.
Two other sessions have addressed changes to the state’s Supreme Court and congressional maps. The most recent, a six-day session that convened in October, paid legislators a total of $241,571 in per diem and mileage — about $1,677 per legislator.
Lawmakers and staff are also paid when task forces and other committees convene outside sessions.
In a debate this year over the further study of carbon sequestration, House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, warned the legislature was leaning too heavily on new task forces when existing committees could handle much of the work.
“I just want us to be aware that every time we set up a task force, it requires staff, it requires members,” DeVillier said. A bid to create the study group failed.
Of the 30 task forces legislators tried to create this year, 25 have been established.
The legislature’s own budget for salaries and expenses has climbed from about $50.7 million in 2019 to $61.1 million in 2025.
