The Senate curbs mileage. No more than 1,500 km and only within the electoral district

We are sorting out the issues in the Senate: clear rules, uniform rules, full control of expenses – said Senate Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska on Thursday, informing about the signing of an amendment to the ordinance regulating the rules for settling the so-called kilometers. The changes come into force on February 1.

Kidawa-Błońska announced the signing of the ordinance amending the existing ordinance on the organizational and technical conditions for the creation, operation and abolition of senatorial offices on Thursday on the X platform.

“We are tidying up the issues in the Senate: clear rules, uniform rules, full control of expenditure. This is what responsibility for public money requires. The changes come into force on February 1,” wrote the Senate Marshal, attaching a photo of the signed change to the ordinance.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Rules, Ethics and Senatorial Affairs issued a negative opinion on the draft amendment to the regulation of the Senate Marshal on the travel of senators in private cars for business purposes. The Commission voted in favor of maintaining the current rules for settling the so-called kilometers.

PiS is against it. “Mthere may be restrictions on the activities of senators”

During the discussion on the project, KO senator Marek Borowski assessed that the changes introduced in the Sejm were caused by repeated abuse of the regulations by MPs. – No abuse of this right was revealed in the Senate and therefore (…) the justification for the proposal to leave it as it is now is strong – he emphasized. In turn, PiS senator Marek Komorowski estimated that if the changes proposed by Marshal Kidawa-Błońska came into force, the activities of senators may be limited. To issue a negative opinion on the draft change in the settlement rules of the so-called Another PiS senator, Stanisław Karczewski, also requested mileage.

The Speaker of the Senate, announcing Wednesday's meeting of the Senate Rules Committee, said that the proposed changes that the committee members will consider will be “very consistent with what concerns the Sejm.” The head of the Senate Chancellery, Ewa Polkowska, said at Wednesday's committee meeting that the changes are consistent with the new Sejm rules for settling the so-called kilometers, and some differences “result from the specific regulations of the Senate Marshal's ordinance or from the desire to clarify certain issues that have not yet been resolved in the Sejm regulations.”

Instead of a lump sum of no more than 1,500 km and only within a district

The head of the Senate chancellery noted that the essence of the changes, which would come into force from February 1, is that instead of a limited monthly lump sum expense, the costs of traveling by car in the senator's constituency are to be covered “up to the amount constituting the product of the number of kilometers traveled in a month, not more than 1,500 km per month, and the rate per 1 km of mileage in the amount of PLN 1.15.”

Polkowska also pointed out that the draft ordinance distinguishes between journeys in connection with the performance of a senator's mandate in the constituency – with a limit of up to 1,500 km per month (without the need to document this expense) and journeys outside the constituency, which must be documented each month with a senator's declaration on travel, containing information on the date, route, number of kilometers traveled, rate per kilometer and cost of travel. The draft amendment to the ordinance also includes a proposal for a new settlement table.

The Sejm has already changed the rules

At the end of December last year, the Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, signed an amendment to the regulation on the creation and financing of parliamentary offices, which, among other things, introduces a distinction between journeys outside the parliamentary constituency and those within its boundaries. In order for journeys outside the constituency to be included in the cost breakdown, they must be entered in a special register, specifying the dates of the journey, their routes and the number of kilometers traveled. These data will be controlled by employees of the Chancellery of the Sejm, just like other documentation related to the financing of the activities of parliamentary offices.

In addition, each MP using a private car (including on the basis of a loan agreement or similar) will receive a lump sum as part of the amount for running the office, and not additional money for travel within the constituency – up to the limit of 1,500 km per month. The rates per kilometer correspond to the rates specified in the regulations on national delegations, which is currently PLN 1.15 or PLN 0.89 per kilometer – depending on the engine capacity. This means that each MP will receive no more than PLN 1,725 ​​per month.

Stricter rules for settling long-term vehicle rentals have also been introduced. Such rental was recognized by the Speaker of the Sejm as a special form of business travel, and stricter settlement criteria apply – for journeys within the constituency it is possible to settle them up to the amount of PLN 1,725 per month, and in the case of journeys outside the constituency, in addition to the obligation to enter in the register, from January 1, 2026, there is a rule that for each kilometer traveled, an MP may only settle fuel costs – without other operating costs, which are covered in the costs. lease. (PAP)

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