| ► San Antonio News-Express – 08/24/10 - Pocketing per diem troubling – Editorial |
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San Antonio News-Express – 08/24/10 - Pocketing per diem troubling – Editorial San Antonio News-Express Editorial Board
August 24, 2010
Texas lawmakers may be operating within legal parameters when they pay in-session living expenses with campaign funds and keep the per diem provided by taxpayers.
But the practice is troubling on several levels.
And despite whatever interpretations legislators and their lawyers may offer, the practice is offensive in its disrespect for taxpayers and its excessively liberal definition of proper uses of campaign contributions.
Veteran Express-News Austin reporter Gary Scharrer reported over the weekend that an independent watchdog has filed complaints with the Travis County district attorney and the Texas Ethics Commission involving most state lawmakers from Bexar County as well as others.
Among San Antonio legislators, only Reps. Joaquin Castro, Joe Farias, Frank Corte and House Speaker Joe Straus avoid the practice, Scharrer reported.
Californian Dave Palmer, who filed the complaints, questions whether lawmakers have a right to take the per diem when they use campaign contributions to cover their expenses while the Legislature meets in Austin.
A federal tax expert told the Express-News that the practice also raises questions about whether the per diem should be subjected to federal income tax since it doesn’t actually go for legislative expenses. If reimbursements are received from two sources, one of them must be declared as income, the expert said.
The per diem for a regular legislative session totals $23,250, and lawmakers do not have to document how they spend it.
However, the lawmakers in question have reported using campaign dollars for apartments and other living expenses, the Express-News noted. Even without the complication of the per diem, that use of campaign contributions — in which lawmakers have long indulged — is unsavory.
Palmer’s complaint gives voters a glimpse at obnoxious tricks of the trade, but don’t hold your breath waiting for any official consequences.
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