A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to update legislators' per diem to the current federal rates.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 120‑3.1(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	In addition to compensation for their services, members of the General Assembly shall be paid the following allowances:
(1)	A weekly travel allowance for each week or fraction thereof that the General Assembly is in regular or extra session. The amount of the weekly travel allowance shall be calculated for each member by multiplying the actual round‑trip mileage from that member's home to the City of Raleigh by the rate per mile which is the business standard mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service in  Rev. Proc. 2006‑49, November 20, 2006.(2)	A travel allowance at the rate which is the business standard mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service in Rev. Proc. 2006‑49, November 20, 2006, whenever the member travels, whether in or out of session, as a representative of the General Assembly or of its committees or commissions, with the approval of the Legislative Services Commission.
(3)	A subsistence allowance for meals and lodging at a daily rate of one hundred thirty‑four dollars ($134.00) while the General Assembly is in session and, except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, while the General Assembly is not in session when, with the approval of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the case of Representatives or the President Pro Tempore of the Senate in case of Senators, the member is:
a.	Traveling as a representative of the General Assembly or of its committees or commissions, or
b.	Otherwise in the service of the State.
A member who is authorized to travel, whether in or out of session, within the United States outside North Carolina, may elect to receive, in lieu of the amount provided in the preceding paragraph, a subsistence allowance of twenty‑six dollars ($26.00) a day for meals, plus actual expenses for lodging when evidenced by a receipt satisfactory to the Legislative Services Officer, the latter not to exceed the maximum per diem rate for federal employees traveling to the same place, as set out at  General Services Administration Per Diem Bulletin 07‑1, August 3, 2006 (71 Federal Register 43772‑43773, August 2, 2006) and at  General Services Administration Per Diem Bulletin 07‑2, November 22, 2006 (71 Federal Register 70394, December 4, 2006).
(4)	A member may be reimbursed for registration fees as permitted by the Legislative Services Commission."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective upon convening of the 2009 Regular Session of the General Assembly.