Lawmakers Bill Taxpayers For TVs, Cameras, Lexus
By LOUISE RADNOFSKY and T.W. FARNAM
WSJ
WASHINGTON -- Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.
The expenditures were legal, properly accounted for and drawn from allowances the U.S. government grants to lawmakers. Equipment purchased with office expense accounts must be returned to the House or the federal General Services Administration when a lawmaker leaves office.
But as British politicians come under widening scorn for spending public money on everything from candy bars to moat-dredging, an examination of U.S. lawmakers' expense claims shows Washington's elected officials have also used public funds for eye-catching purchases.
U.S. politicians, unlike their counterparts in Great Britain, can't bill taxpayers for personal living expenses. The U.S. Treasury gives them an allowance to cover "official and representational expenses," according to congressional rules, and the lawmakers enjoy a fair amount of discretion in how they use the funds.
(More here.)
WSJ
WASHINGTON -- Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.
The expenditures were legal, properly accounted for and drawn from allowances the U.S. government grants to lawmakers. Equipment purchased with office expense accounts must be returned to the House or the federal General Services Administration when a lawmaker leaves office.
But as British politicians come under widening scorn for spending public money on everything from candy bars to moat-dredging, an examination of U.S. lawmakers' expense claims shows Washington's elected officials have also used public funds for eye-catching purchases.
U.S. politicians, unlike their counterparts in Great Britain, can't bill taxpayers for personal living expenses. The U.S. Treasury gives them an allowance to cover "official and representational expenses," according to congressional rules, and the lawmakers enjoy a fair amount of discretion in how they use the funds.
(More here.)
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WARNING : Operational expenses for Congress may increase.
FYI : A May 9th Roll Call story - The House wants to increase Members’ office budgets next fiscal year by almost 15 percent, partly because 2010 is an election year and lawmakers anticipate a surge in franked mail.The story is behind a firewall, but it’s $90 million !
The Roll Call article lists a proposed 80 percent increase in franked mail costs due to extra mail sent by members to constituents in an election year.
Members are not allowed to use the franked mail privilege for campaign purposes, and House officials say they were simply pointing out that in the second year of a congressional term, more legislation makes its way through the process and more press releases highlighting members' successes are sent.
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In the WashPost story, the Wall Street Journal Congressional Bonus story is cited. Last year alone, more than 200 House lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, awarded bonuses totaling $9.1 million to more than 2,000 staff members, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of office-disbursement forms. The money comes out of taxpayer-funded office budgets, and is surplus cash that would otherwise be forfeited if not spent.
Six lawmakers who lost their re-election races paid more than $300,000 in bonuses to 89 staffers. Thelma Drake, a Republican, gave about $40,000 in extra compensation to about a dozen aides after losing her Virginia seat. Mrs. Drake said the payments were a form of severance to "good staff members who worked their hearts out and who were about to lose their jobs."
A handful of lawmakers who retired handed out a total of $283,000 in bonuses. After Republican Heather Wilson gave up her New Mexico seat in the House to run unsuccessfully for the Senate, she gave 13 aides bonuses as high as $3,000. "My practice over 10 years in Congress was to give bonuses at the end of the year," she said.Although $9.1 million is a lot of money it’s a tenth of the “frankening” budget increase. And to put this in some perspective, let’s do the math on that, shall we? $9.1 million over 2,000 people. That works out to $4,550 per person on average. Indeed, the article notes that the bonuses range from a few hundred dollars to $14k, hardly irresponsible next to the insane bonuses being paid out by insolvent banks courtesy of taxpayers. Yet the pool is slanted as some members of Congress knowing that they lost their elections have given large bonuses to close their Member's Representational Allowance.
FYI : In 2007, Walz returned approximately $100,000 in unspent funds from his 2007 MRA to the U.S. Treasury - roughly 7% of his budget.
FYI : An update.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a letter to the House Chief Administrative Officer ordered expense reports for House offices to be published on the Internet ASAP.
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