Pay As We Say
Not as they don’t. Toll-hiking, gas-taxing Massachusetts hacks don’t pay the tolls, taxes, insurance or car payments. They charge it all to their campaigns, then collect the generous state per diems they vote for themselves. Boston Herald, Free Rides For Pols:
Top lawmakers poised to slam motorists with toll hikes and a gas tax won’t feel the pain themselves thanks to all-expenses-paid campaign-funded cars - and in some cases, taxpayer-subsidized travel allowances to boot, a Herald review found.
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi pilots an $845-a-month Lincoln Navigator, paid for out of his campaign war chest, and even takes a taxpayer-financed $10-a-day stipend under the controversial “per diem” system. He also paid $2,563 in gas, $261 in tolls and even $83 for car washes out of his campaign account this year, records show.
The per diem is intended to reimburse hacks for the cost of traveling into Boston from their districts. Some of them actually live up to 100 miles away. DiMasi’s district is the North End. It’s a pleasant 15-minute walk through some of Boston’s more quiant, historic streets, filled with his constituents, to the State House.
“The speaker has responsibilities beyond his district,” DiMasi spokesman David Guarino said. “The appropriate way to pay for (the SUV) is out of his campaign funds.” Guarino added that the speaker reimburses his campaign about $800 a year for any personal use of the vehicle.
Other lawmakers who pay for vehicles out of their campaign and also collect taxpayer-funded travel stipends include:
Sen. Joan Menard (D-Fall River), whose campaign covered her $862-a-month Cadillac STS while she collected $3,240 in per diems;
Rep. Paul Kujawski (D-Webster), who charged his $397-a-month Ford to his campaign while collecting $5,220 in per diems; and
Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), whose campaign paid for a $471-a-month Infiniti while he collected $2,745 in per diems.
The practice of accepting per diems while paying for a car through a campaign account appears to be an ethical gray area.
Actually, it’s a legal gray area. It’s an ethical joke.
According to a 2001 Office of Campaign and Political Finance memo, lawmakers can pay travel costs, including leasing a car, if travel is “related to campaigning for votes” and fund-raising or is used in connection with constituent services.
But, the memo states: “By law, a political committee may not pay for any expense which is otherwise paid, provided or reimbursed by the commonwealth such as a legislator’s per diem for mileage.”
Still, campaign office spokesman Jason Tait said, “There are situations where a lawmaker can accept a per diem and at the same time use their campaign account for travel costs and motor vehicle leases.”
Situations big enough to drive a Lincoln Navigator through.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:26 am on Friday, November 21, 2008
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November 21st, 2008 at 11:18 am
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 11/20/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.