Walz hits Demmer on per diem payments

Rep. Tim Walz criticized his Republican opponent, Randy Demmer, on Monday for accepting per diem payments in the state legislature at times when he was not on the clock. Walz raised the issue at a KSTP/KAAL-sponsored debate on Sunday challenging Demmer’s fiscal responsibility statements. Demmer responded that his taking of the per diems was “immaterial.”

Walz campaign spokeswoman Sara Severs said in a statement Monday, “In these tough economic times, voters of the First District think how their taxpayer dollars are being spent is rather material and an important question. Pocketing taxpayer money when you didn’t even show up to work is bad enough — but considering our state’s budget problems — how much did he take for himself that could have been spent on roads, veterans, schoolchildren and seniors in nursing homes?”

Among the charges by the Walz campaign are that Demmer took per diems — daily payments paid by the state to cover expenses like food and housing — at times that he wasn’t in the Legislature. For instance, in 2007, Demmer was paid a per diem on days he was in Washington, DC, at a National Republican Congressional Committee candidate training. And in another instance he took a per diem on Easter Sunday when the Legislature was not in session.

Walz, in contrast, has returned to the U.S. Treasury the automatic raises that Congress receives each year.

The Demmer campaign did not return a request for comment Tuesday morning.

Here is the Walz and Demmer exchange at the debate: