NASHVILLE -- Tennessee legislators now will get another $14 a day in expenses as they come to the Capitol to wrestle with drastic state budget cuts that could force layoffs.

Lawmakers' per diem expense reimbursements automatically rose on Oct. 1 from $171 to $185 a day, an 8.1 percent increase. The per diem reimbursements pay lawmakers' food and lodging costs while away from their home districts on official business.

"The members of the General Assembly's per diem is set according to what the federal reimbursement rate is for the Nashville area," and those rates went up in October, said Connie Ridley, director of the Legislative Office of Administration.

House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, of College Grove, said he is "kind of surprised because it's based on some federal calculation. Gosh, to me, it seems like we're living in kind of a deflationary time."

He said he is "not interested in increasing my per diem. We'll just have to look at this in January on how we can roll this back. I do think it's something that needs to be done. No. 1, it's tough economic times. And No. 2, I just doubt the (federal) calculations."

His counterpart, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner, of Nashville, said he was unaware of the change, as well.

"We probably ought to look at it at some point," he said. "If per diem gets so high, maybe we ought to look more at increasing the salary and lowering per diem to balance it out.

"A lot of our members are working stiffs like I am, and we lose money coming up here sometimes. ... But I think it needs to be looked at," he said.

Ben Cunningham of Tennessee Tax Revolt, a watchdog group, said he thinks legislators should be required to take votes on raising their expenses instead of having them go up automatically.

Tennessee sustained historic revenue losses in the recession, which appears to be over after the economy grew slightly in the quarter ending Sept. 30. But experts say states including Tennessee are not expected to see a rebound in revenues anytime soon.

Members of the Tennessee General Assembly are paid $19,009 a year. They also receive a $1,000-a-month home office allowance.

Lawmakers typically spend five to six months in their annual legislative sessions, deal with constituents, often hold meetings with constituents at home and attend occasional committee hearings in Nashville outside of the legislative session.