The Des Moines Register’s editorial board called out Iowa legislators on Sunday for using schemes to inflate their wages and pensions while minimizing taxes. The editors also pointed out that lawmakers are not held accountable for how they spend money intended to reimburse job-related expenses.

Most Iowa House and Senate members earn an annual salary of $25,000. Legislators who hold leadership posts earn more, up to $37,500 per year. But the Register’s exclusive investigation of “special treatment” for legislators shows that state representatives and senators have enjoyed supplements to those salaries for decades:

Prior to 1969: Iowa lawmakers collected $40 for each day of work.

1970: They began receiving a $15-a-day “expense of office” payment ($7.50 a day for those who lived in Polk County).

1971: Lawmakers started collecting an annual salary of $6,500.

1989: A monthly “constituent allowance” of $75 was started.

1991: Iowa changed the “expense of office” payment, which had been reported on W-2 forms, to a “per diem” – which allowed for special income tax treatment.

In addition to their base salary,

lawmakers receive a “constituent allowance” of $300 per month, all 12 months of the year. They do not pay payroll taxes on this money. It is supposed to be used to cover the cost of communicating with constituents, but lawmakers do not have to account for how it is spent, or if it is spent. They do not turn in receipts or document what it was used for. The state just gives them 3,600 additional dollars every year. […]

Then there are the “per diem” payments supposedly intended to help cover the expenses of being in office. Like the constituent service allowance and salary, lawmakers automatically receive this money.

During a legislative session, lawmakers are paid an additional $100 per day if they live within 50 miles of the state Capitol. Those who reside farther away collect $134 per day, or $13,400 for a 100-day session. Again, there is no requirement lawmakers show how this money is used. In fact, they do not even have to be present at the Capitol to collect it.

In addition, many legislators collect “39 cents a mile for a once-a-week round trip from their hometowns while the Legislature is in session.”

Two weeks ago USA Today reviewed tactics state legislators use around the country to inflate their pensions. According to that review, Iowa is one of 13 states “that add expense reimbursements and per-diem allowances to salaries used to calculate legislators’ pensions.” In other words, per diem payments that are not considered income for tax purposes are considered income for pension calculation purposes.

USA Today found that Iowa is also one of 23 states that allow “double dipping,” whereby lawmakers “can collect a state pension and salary at the same time.”

The Des Moines Register’s editors called for new rules to pay legislators “a fixed salary” and require them to “turn in receipts and documentation” in order to be reimbursed for expenses, as is common in the private sector. I would be shocked to see any action on those fronts during the 2012 legislative session.