Karen Bass, California Lawmaker & Democratic Congressional Candidate, Skips Capitol Meetings, Still Collects Per Diem Payments

Karen Bass, California lawmaker & Democratic Congressional candidates, skips meetings at state Capitol, but still collects per diem payments.

Karen Bass, former speaker of the California state Assembly and a congressional candidate, has come under fire over tax free per diem payments she collected, though she was missing from the chamber repeatedly. According to the LA Times, Bass, who is black, since mid-February, after she announced her bid for Congress, has missed more that 60 percent of Assembly sessions, spending much of the time in her district. The bottom line is Ms. Bass was missing in action while lawmakers deal with the daunting task of addressing the state's massive budget shortfall, plus pass other legislations.

Ms. Bass collected a per diem of $141.80 per day for 29 days she was not in Sacramento, raking in a payment of more than $4,000, according to the LA Times. That's on the taxpayer in California, which is grappling with a high unemployment rate hovering around 12 percent. The per diem payments are given to lawmakers to cover any expense they may incur while attending legislative sessions. So, while it's legal for Karen Bass to collect these payments, it is morally wrong for her to do so. How can you request these payments if you haven't done the work? She's playing the taxpayer for a fool.

Read more: California lawmaker skips Capitol meetings but collects tax-free per diem payments | LA Times

Photo credit:  Karen Bass, CA Majority Report