By: Michael Achterling (ND Monitor)
North Dakota’s House majority leader urged a state lawmaker Monday to forgo her legislative pay for a week of the session she missed while taking a family vacation.
Rep. Lori VanWinkle, R-Minot, returned Monday after missing five days at the Capitol to go with her family on an annual vacation.
House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said he met with VanWinkle to ask where she had been.
“She indicated to me that she was on vacation, and I said, ‘That’s inappropriate for a legislator to take vacation during a legislative session.’”
VanWinkle defended her absence and said she’s being unfairly criticized for spending time with her family.
“I don’t know why I’m being singled out in my absence and why everybody else isn’t,” she said. “So it’s a little bizarre to me.”
North Dakota lawmakers meet for up to 80 days every two years. Lefor said he does not recall any lawmaker taking a family vacation during a legislative session. He said he recently missed his first day over the past 10 years to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law.
Lawmakers are paid $213 per day during the legislative session on top of a $592 monthly salary, said John Bjornson, director of Legislative Council.
Lefor said he does not have the authority to withhold VanWinkle’s pay during her vacation, but suggested she voluntarily give her daily pay back during the time she was absent.
At the end of each floor session, lawmakers routinely vote to excuse absent members. Last Thursday, while VanWinkle was absent, House members voted 55-41 to excuse absent members, with unusually high opposition to the absences.
That vote is largely ceremonial, however, according to Bjornson. State law says lawmakers are “entitled” to be paid.
The only time the Legislative Council has withheld pay from a lawmaker are instances when the lawmaker volunteers to give back the pay for being absent.
“If they ask not to be (paid), we won’t,” Bjornson said.
VanWinkle suggested the House do an audit of lawmaker absences during the session to determine if criticism of her missing days is warranted. She said she hasn’t taken any sick days and she said other lawmakers have taken additional days off around the crossover break.
“Give me the answer, are we allowed absent days, or not?” she said.
VanWinkle said the focus on her absences is an attempt to silence her for her opinions. Earlier this session, VanWinkle drew public backlash for some controversial comments about in-vitro fertilization.
“This just falls right in line with all of their efforts to basically intimidate me and make me feel like I can’t say the things that I’m saying,” she said.
Lefor said telling someone to come to work is not an attempt to silence them.
“The constituents that elect us are ultimately the final say on whether we are sitting here or not,” Lefor said. “If her constituents look at this and want her back, that’s what it is.”
The Legislative Management Committee may discuss the absence policy during the interim, Lefor said.
“It’s things that you don’t think you need to address because I didn’t ever expect to see this,” Lefor said.
Rep. Bob Martinson, R-Bismarck, said he doesn’t think the absence policy should be changed.
“Most of us don’t take vacations during the session,” Martinson said.
Speaker of the House Rep. Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield, said it is pretty hard to tell people whether they can or cannot leave during the legislative session. If the policy were to change to authorized absences, he said he worries the leadership in each chamber would be responsible for qualifying every acceptable absence.
“I don’t think anybody in leadership wants to go down that road,” Weisz said. “The voters put them here and expect them to be here as much as possible.”
