Written by Carol Morgan on February 14, 2012 - 6:42pm
Like Mulder said, “The truth is out there”. There are so many tools for voters to use in the quest for facts. If people would only use them!
One of my favorite websites that documents Texas spending issues is Susan Combs’ Texas Transparency at: http://www.texastransparency.org/moneygoes/ The per diem listings are confidential; but everyone knows per diem is how legislators compensate their anemic salaries. If a lawmaker takes the maximum 140 days of per diem at the rate of $150, he/she can obtain an additional $21,000 annually.
Per diem aside, I’m more concerned about the amount of money Texas lawmakers spend on travel. In 2011, The Texas House of Representatives ($5,670,390.52) and the Texas Senate ($1,592,167.13) spent a combined total of $7,262,557.60.
Examine those travel figure closely and you’ll discover that certain lawmakers consider themselves far too special to fly commercial “cattle class” like the rest of us; or even like their more frugal fellow lawmakers. There are six Texas legislators who choose to use a private aircraft for travel; but insist that taxpayers foot the bill.
Below is the list of legislators (along with the amounts, per the Comptroller’s website) who billed the taxpayers of Texas in 2011 for the use of their private aircraft:
John Frullo (House-R-Lubbock) $7,678.08 (single engine aircraft mileage)
Kelton G. Seliger (Senate-R-Amarillo) $1,830.24 (single engine aircraft mileage)
Kelton G. Seliger (Senate-R-Amarillo) $1,830.87 (twin-engine aircraft mileage)
Craig L. Estes (Senate-R-Wichita Falls) $10,659.04 (twin-engine aircraft mileage)
Stephen E. Ogden (Senate-R- Bryan) $255.44 (twin-engine aircraft mileage)
John J. Carona (Senate-R-Dallas) $15,032.52 (turbine aircraft mileage)
Kelton G. Seliger (Senate-R-Amarillo) $27,316.60 (turbine aircraft mileage)
Troy Fraser (Senate-R- Abilene/Killeen area) $3,238.88 (turbine aircraft mileage)
Troy Fraser (Senate-R- Abilene/Killeen area) $2,762.30 (out of state turbine aircraft mileage)
That’s a total of $70,603.97 for private aircraft travel...
Read more: http://lubbockonline.com
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