Question: Our SILC is considering how to treat the CIL rep on the council related to who pays their expenses. I think at our next meeting the Council really needs to discuss and flesh these out along with the CIL rep’s input, and update the policies providing more clarity related to this topic. We need policies that will work for both our SILC and the CIL Director Rep so CIL Director Reps can continue to be engaged and active in SILC-related business and neither entity will be solely saddled with all the costs for this participation. I think where I’m getting tripped up is with the fact that currently her CIL pays for her time to travel/attend/participate in SILC meetings, so should her CIL then cover the cost of her travel/mileage to do this, too? Currently, this is how it works with our other Council Members who’s time is being compensated by a State Agency or other type of employer to travel/attend/participate in SILC meetings.
Each SILC is responsible for its own policy, so there is flexibility here. Your policy should detail how travel is approved in advance, how it is paid (required documentation) and what is considered “reasonable and necessary”. Most treat in state travel as routine up to a budgeted amount, for all the voting members, and treat out of state travel as needing prior approval. The travel costs to and from the meeting are certainly routine, and typically these are paid upon submission to the voting members of the SILC.
SILC’s typically pay all travel expenses for the CIL rep, as they do for all other voting members. Most SILCs do not pay an honorarium (to compensate for time) to any member who is paid by their employer for their time (even if they are taking vacation time, which is compensated time) to attend meetings. They don’t pay anything for ex-officio, non-voting members – neither for time or expenses — because their agencies have to cover their time and travel.
If other CILs attend the meeting, they pay all their own expenses. But the CIL Director chosen by the other CIL directors and appointed by the Governor is a voting member, and shouldn’t be treated any differently than all other voting members.