Alaska Politics Blog : Per diem

Alaska Politics Blog

This is the place to talk about Alaska politics, state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier has rarely been more interesting -- a full slate of federal and state elections, the influence of former Gov. Sarah Palin, the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. We encourage lively debate, but please keep it civil and stay on point. Don't use profanity, make crude comments or attack other posters. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will lose their ability to post comments.

Contributors

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

Features

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Alaska political corruption

When the FBI raided state legislature offices in Aug. 2006, it publicly launched an investigation that ultimately reached the highest levels of Alaska politics, and continues to this day.

Per diem

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: February 18, 2009 - 3:19 pm

From ADN state/local news editor David Hulen --

ADN's Lisa Demer has a story on the homepage about the governor, per diem payments and federal income taxes. The AP and the Washington Post also have stories.

What has the governor turned in recently for per diem reimbursement? Here are her reports for the last two months of 2008, which we received in recent days in response to public-records requests:

> Governor's travel and per diem report for November.

> Governor's travel and per diem report for December.

She turned in for the $60 meal/incidental expense per diem for a smattering of days in November and December, sometimes with little explanation ("Anchorage," "Phone call with Sen. Elizabeth Dole"), sometimes with more ("Natural Resources meeting," "Speech - Resource Dev. Council," "Phone call with Gov. Rendell, interview with KTVA, meeting with COS & Comm. LeDoux," "Photo with UAA Men's & Women's teams").

The governor's office hasn't released any reports covering 2009.

For latecomers: This became an issue during the campaign last fall. Here are stories from the Washington Post and ADN, and a post here summarizing, with links, the debate over Palin, per diem and taxes (including conclusions at the time from tax law professors that the governor need to pay federal income tax on the per diem she had received for working in the Anchorage office and staying at her home in Wasilla.)