2.10 Salaries and expenses — members of general assembly.

Members of the general assembly shall receive salaries and expenses as provided by this section.

1. Every member of the general assembly except the presiding officer of the senate, the speaker of the house, the majority and minority floor leader of each house, and the president pro tempore of the senate and speaker pro tempore of the house shall receive an annual salary of twenty-five thousand dollars for the year 2007 and subsequent years while serving as a member of the general assembly. In addition, each such member shall receive a per diem, as defined in subsection 5, for expenses of office, except travel, for each day the general assembly is in session commencing with the first day of a legislative session and ending with the day of final adjournment of each legislative session as indicated by the journals of the house and senate, except that if the length of the first regular session of the general assembly exceeds one hundred ten calendar days and the second regular session exceeds one hundred calendar days, the payments shall be made only for one hundred ten calendar days for the first session and one hundred calendar days for the second session. Members from Polk county shall receive an amount per day equal to three-fourths of the per diem of the non-Polk county members. Each member shall receive a three hundred dollar per month allowance for legislative district constituency postage, travel, telephone costs, and other expenses. Travel expenses shall be paid at the rate established by section 8A.363 for actual travel in going to and returning from the seat of government by the nearest traveled route for not more than one time per week during a legislative session unless the general assembly otherwise provides.

2. The speaker of the house, presiding officer of the senate, and the majority and minority floor leader of each house shall each receive an annual salary of thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars for the year 2007 and subsequent years while serving in that capacity. The president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker pro tempore of the house shall receive an annual salary of twenty-seven thousand dollars for the year 2007 and subsequent years while serving in that capacity. Expense and travel allowances shall be the same for the speaker of the house and the presiding officer of the senate, the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker pro tempore of the house, and the majority and minority leader of each house as provided for other members of the general assembly.

3. When a vacancy occurs and the term of any member of the general assembly is not completed, the member shall receive a salary or compensation proportional to the length of the member’s service computed to the nearest whole month. A successor elected to fill such vacancy shall receive a salary or compensation proportional to the successor’s length of service computed to the nearest whole month commencing with such time as the successor is officially determined to have succeeded to such office.

4. a. The director of the department of administrative services shall pay the travel and expenses of the members of the general assembly commencing with the first pay period after the names of such persons are officially certified. The salaries of the members of the general assembly shall be paid pursuant to any of the following alternative methods:

(1) During each month of the year at the same time state employees are paid.

(2) During each pay period during the first six months of each calendar year.

(3) During the first six months of each calendar year by allocating two-thirds of the annual salary to the pay periods during those six months and one-third of the annual salary to the pay periods during the second six months of a calendar year.

b. Each member of the general assembly shall file with the director of the department of administrative services a statement as to the method the member selects for receiving payment of salary. The presiding officers of the two houses of the general assembly shall jointly certify to the director of the department of administrative services the names of the members, officers, and employees of their respective houses and the salaries and mileage to which each is entitled. Travel and expense allowances shall be paid upon the submission of vouchers to the director of the department of administrative services indicating a claim for the same.

5. a. In addition to the salaries and expenses authorized by this section, a member of the general assembly shall be paid a per diem, and necessary travel and actual expenses incurred in attending meetings for which per diem or expenses are authorized by law for members of the general assembly who serve on statutory boards, commissions, or councils, and for standing or interim committee or subcommittee meetings subject to the provisions of section 2.14, or when on authorized legislative business when the general assembly is not in session. However, if a member of the general assembly is engaged in authorized legislative business at a location other than at the seat of government during the time the general assembly is in session, payment may be made for the actual transportation and lodging costs incurred because of the business. Such per diem or expenses shall be paid promptly from funds appropriated pursuant to section 2.12.

b. For purposes of this section, “per diem” means the maximum amount generally allowable to employees of the executive branch of the federal government for per diem while away from home at the seat of government.

6. If a special session of the general assembly is convened, members of the general assembly shall receive, in addition to their annual salaries, a per diem for each day the general assembly is actually in special session, and the same travel allowances and expenses as authorized by this section. A member of the general assembly shall receive the additional per diem, travel allowances, and expenses only for the days of attendance during a special session.

7. A member of the general assembly may return to the state treasury all or a part of the salary, per diem, or expenses paid to the member pursuant to this section. The member may specify the public use for the returned money. A member has no income tax liability for that portion of the member’s salary or per diem which is returned to the state treasury pursuant to this subsection. The administrative officer of each house shall provide a form at the convening of each legislative session to allow legislators to return any portion of their salaries or expenses according to this section.

8. Commencing upon the convening of the Seventy-eighth General Assembly in January 1999, the annual salaries of members and officers of the general assembly, as the annual salaries existed during the preceding calendar year, shall be adjusted by an amount equal to the average of the annual cost-of-living pay adjustments negotiated for the members of the collective bargaining units represented by the state police officers council labor union, the American federation of state, county, and municipal employees, and the Iowa united professionals for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1997. For the calendar year 2000, during the month of January, the annual salaries of members and officers of the general assembly shall be adjusted by an amount equal to the average of the annual cost-of-living pay adjustments received by the members of those collective bargaining units for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1998. The annual salaries determined for the members and officers as provided in this section for the calendar year 2000 shall remain in effect for subsequent calendar years until otherwise provided by the general assembly.

[C51, §11; R60, §18; C73, §12; C97, §12, 14; S13, §12; C24, 27, 31, 35, §14-a1, 14-a2, 14-a3; C39, §14, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 15, 16, 17; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, §2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17; C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §2.10]

83 Acts, ch 205, §20; 87 Acts, ch 227, §14; 88 Acts, ch 1267, §12, 13; 88 Acts, ch 1275, §29; 89 Acts, ch 302, §10; 89 Acts, ch 303, §13; 90 Acts, ch 1223, §2; 90 Acts, ch 1256, §19; 91 Acts, ch 258, §1; 93 Acts, ch 177, §16 – 18; 95 Acts, ch 211, §14, 17; 97 Acts, ch 204, §16; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §103, 286; 2005 Acts, ch 177, §14, 16; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §110; 2014 Acts, ch 1026, §1

Referred to in §2.14, 2.32A, 2.40, 2.44, 2.51, 2.69, 8A.375, 17A.8, 28B.4, 80.28, 80B.8, 97B.8A, 97D.4, 142A.3, 216A.139, 225C.5, 256I.3, 261.4, 261D.3, 272B.2, 328.13, 418.5

See Iowa Constitution, Art. III, §25