John Coghill needs all the money he can get. He told me so. 

When I asked him about his Juneau per diem, he told me he gets "around" $7,000/month and pays only $500/month for an apartment on Douglas Island that he shares. In other words, he pockets around $6,500/month in excessive per diem. He favors his legislative perk because he said he needs the extra money he "stacks up" in Juneau during the session to pay his bills when the legislature is not in session. He also said he uses some of his per diem money for a car tune-up in Juneau after he "drive(s) it to Juneau from Fairbanks" each year. 

Alaska state employees on business travel  are reimbursed for actual expenses and according to Peter Micciche his employer Connoco Phillips reimburses only actual expenses. The feds reimburse for actual expenses paid. I've taken lots of business trips and went TDY a fair amount. Never did my employers ever give me $6,000/month (or any amount) as "reimbursement" for expenses not incurred.