Filing for expenses dwindles since suit

State reimbursing less to lawmakers

— Nearly four months ago, a lawsuit challenging the Legislature’s system of reimbursing lawmakers for expenses was settled. Since then, the amounts paid have dwindled, largely because fewer than half of the members of the House of Representatives have asked for office-expense reimbursements.

Only 43 of the 100 members of the House have been reimbursed for office-related expenses for months after the settlement became effective.

Many of the other representatives have yet to file documents to seek reimbursements, and at least a few said they’ve decided to forgo reimbursements for office expenses.

Documents also show that the House — and ultimately taxpayers — paid mileage expenses for at least one Republican lawmaker and at least one Democratic lawmaker to attend political-party functions.

The reimbursements lawsuit was filed by the Arkansas Law Center in September. The settlement bars state officials from paying lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the state Capitol up to $10,200 a year for office expenses in lieu of perdiem and mileage.

Sixty-six of 135 state lawmakers were eligible for these payments, and all but a few had accepted the payments before the lawsuit.

The law center’s board of directors includes Max Brantley, senior editor of the Arkansas Times newspaper and one of two plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

In advance of the suit, lawmakers drew criticism from the political right and political left for drawing the same amount of certain ex- penses month after month and filing reimbursement forms that lacked details about the purported expenses.

The House’s payments for office-expense reimbursements for April, May and June totaled $144,061 — a drop from $426,204 during the first three months of this year — according to House records.

The House’s per-diem and mileage payments to representatives who live within 50 miles of the Capitol totaled $26,414 during the past three months, according to House records.

All but four of the state Senate’s members have been reimbursed for office expenses since a judge approved the lawsuit settlement on April 3. Most of the senators met with an accountant employed by the Senate to get advice about what documents they needed to file, while groups of House members were briefed on the requirements by a few House staff members, according to Senate and House officials.

The Senate’s office-expense reimbursements totaled about $53,000 a month for January, February and March, and then dipped to $38,295 in April and $35,997 in May, according to Senate records. Senate Director Ann Cornwell said Senate officials haven’t completed processing reimbursements for June.

Senators who live within 50 miles of the Capitol were paid about $5,900 in per-diem and mileage expenses in April and about $5,400 in per diem and mileage in May, according to Senate records.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s review of the files showed that virtually all of the lawmakers provided more documentation of their expenses than they did before the settlement.

For example, the House’s office-expense reimbursement file for state Rep. Buddy Lovell, D-Marked Tree, for January, February and March included only a $1,500-amonth invoice for office expenses from Lovell Investments of Marked Tree.

But since the settlement, Lovell has been reimbursed $1,925 for April, $1,417 for May, and $1,350 for June for office expenses, including $900 a month for office space, items and services furnished under a written agreement with Lovell Investments. His file includes a letter from Glenn Gillis of Gillis Real Estate saying it would cost $900 per month to rent a furnished commercial office with utilities in Marked Tree; a copy of a contract with Lovell’s wife to provide clerical and support services to him at a rate of $20 per hour; a $480 invoice from his wife for April; cellphone bills; and legislative mileage and expense logs.

Lovell claimed 40 miles for reimbursement for driving to Trumann and an $18 meal expense for a June 18 meeting with “new Rep-elect L.J. Bryant” to discuss district issues. Bryant — a Grubbs Democrat who lost a 2008 bid for a state House seat and a 2010 bid to be the state’s land commissioner — is vying with John Hutchison of Harrisburg for the House District 52 seat in the Nov. 6 election.

Since the settlement, state representatives’ reasons for not filing documents seeking office-expense reimbursements range from being wary of the document requirements to not having time to assemble the documents because of their election campaigns and other priorities.

Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, whose office-expense reimbursements were $1,200 a month in January, February and March, said he plans to file documents at the end of the year to seek reimbursements since April.

“I will let everybody else kind of be the guinea pigs and let all this settle out,” said Bell. “There is just too many places to screw up, so I want to listen to other folks’ experience maybe some of those pitfalls, and learn from their experience.”

Since the settlement of the lawsuit, lawmakers who live within 50 miles of the Capitol have been eligible for $61 in per-diem payments, plus mileage at 51 cents a mile for attending meetings in Little Rock. But, the Senate increased the mileage rate it pays to senators to 55.5 cents two months ago. The House, Bureau of Legislative Research and Legislative Audit Division are continuing to pay lawmakers 51 cents per mile. Lawmakers who live farther from the Capitol are eligible for $147 in per-diem payments, plus mileage for attending meetings in Little Rock.

Since the settlement, Rep. Barry Hyde, D-North Little Rock — whose office-expense reimbursements totaled $2,350 a month in January, February and March — is no longer eligible for $850 a month in lieu of per diem and mileage. He said he’s hoping to learn from others before he files for reimbursements.

Hyde has received $680 in per-diem payments and mileage for attending 10 legislative meetings in Little Rock during April, May and June, according to House records.

Rep. Ann Clemmer, RBenton, one of four lawmakers named in the lawsuit, has been paid $1,941 by the House for per-diem and mileage costs for attending 24 legislative meetings in Little Rock during April, May and June, according to House records.

While she is no longer eligible for up $10,200 a year in office-expense reimbursements in lieu of per diem and mileage, she hasn’t yet filed documents for other officeexpense reimbursements, but she intends to seek reimbursements for mileage for attending meetings in her legislative district and for staff help.

Sen. Jerry Taylor, D-Pine Bluff, who also was named in the lawsuit and received $2,350 a month in office-expense reimbursements in January, February and March but is no longer eligible, under the settlement, for $850 a month of that, has been reimbursed $141 for office expenses in April and $397 in May, according to Senate records.

He has also been paid $484 in per diem and mileage for attending legislative meetings in April and $838 in per diem and mileage for attending legislative meetings in May, according to Senate records.

“I am just going to live with it. There is nothing that I can really do,” he said of the terms of the settlement. “I am just looking forward to retiring.”

House records show that Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, claimed mileage to attend several of the GOP’s Lincoln Day events, and Rep. Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart, claimed mileage to attend a state Democratic Party fundraiser in Little Rock.

Collins, whose district includes part of Washington County, claimed 624 miles to attend the March 3 Greene County Republican Committee’s Lincoln Day dinner where Col. Oliver North spoke; 130 miles to attend the April 14 Sebastian County Republican Committee’s Lincoln Day dinner where Texas Gov. Rick Perry spoke; and 43 miles to attend the May 11 Benton County Republican Committee’s Lincoln Day dinner where GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum spoke. He also claimed 132 miles to attend the Feb. 4 Sebastian County Republican Committee’s Reagan Day dinner where congressional candidate Beth Anne Rankin spoke and 30 miles to attend the March 30 Crawford County Republican Committee’s Lincoln Day dinner where Arkansas’ U.S. Rep. Steve Womack spoke.

Collins, who is being challenged by Fayetteville Democrat Adella Gray in the general election, said his reimbursements have been reviewed by House staff members and an accountant, and his attendance at those meetings allowed him to meet with constituents and/or other elected officials to learn more about the issues and talk with others about his proposal to cut the state’s income taxes.

“If the House were to ever say to me, ‘You put in for this expense, we take issue with it,’ I’d take it off,” he said.

According to House records, Rogers claimed 130 miles for driving to Little Rock for an April 2 state Democratic Party fundraiser and to discuss Medicaid issues, fiscal-session outcomes and a trucking tax exemption.

Rogers, who is challenging state Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, in the Nov. 6 general election, said the state Democratic Party fundraiser was for all Democratic candidates, and she “didn’t question [billing the House for the mileage] whenever it happened and whenever I did it because I felt like I was doing it for my position.”

Shortly thereafter, she said she misspoke and that she actually drove on April 2 to Little Rock to attend a meeting of the state Democratic Party’s finance council on which she has served since 2009 — not to attend a party fundraiser.

House Speaker Robert Moore Jr., D-Arkansas City, who is another lawmaker named in the suit, told representatives in an e-mail last week that since the lawsuit’s settlement, all documents submitted for disbursements are “reviewed by an independent tax counsel/ CPA” before they are paid.

“Now that disbursements have been made for several months, we want to move beyond what has been done since April, to expedite disbursements and for the further convenience of our members,” Moore wrote.

“Therefore, we will be adding some additional language to the form regarding your submittal for reimbursement which will attest to the best of your knowledge, that your request for reimbursement is for legislative related expenses,” Moore’s e-mail told House members.

Lawmakers’ salaries are $15,869 this fiscal year. The House speaker and Senate president pro tempore each receive $17,771. They are also eligible for mileage, per-diem and various expense reimbursements.

Last year, the amount that lawmakers collected in perdiem, mileage and expense reimbursements dropped by about $350,000 after years of publicity about the payments, some rule changes and some litigation. The reimbursements, over and above the 135 legislators’ salaries, totaled $5.06 million in 2011, the last regular session, compared with $5.41 million in 2009’s regular session.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/22/2012

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