DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A southwest Iowa lawmaker who has stopped joining in legislative action at the Capitol is still receiving his salary and daily expense payments.  Secretary of the Senate Michael Marshall told The Des Moines Register on Monday that Sen. Hubert Houser was receiving his $144 daily expense payments and his $25,000 annual salary, though he hasn’t voted on a measure since March 4.

Houser told the Register earlier he was too busy with work on his farm to join in legislative business, adding that as a Republican in the Democratic-controlled Senate, he had little to do. On Monday, Houser told the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil he’s willing to return his legislative pay to the state if anyone requested he do so.

Houser, a Republican, has served 22 years in the Legislature.