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The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, CA (AP) - Both houses of the California Legislature are changing their schedules before the President's Day holiday, meeting for less than hour to ensure they collect $142 a day in per diem payments until they reconvene Tuesday.
Lawmakers in the state Assembly and Senate eulogized departed constituents, introduced guests and commemorated Japanese-Americans on Friday. They did not debate any policy.
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Per diems are meant to compensate out-of-town lawmakers for daily living expenses when they travel to the capital, but legislators can collect the tax-free payments from home or even if they're ill.
Bob Stern, former president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, says the whole thing is done for lawmakers to line their pockets.
Six Sacramento-area lawmakers decline the per diems, but most others defend them.
The Associated Press