Missouri Republicans Waste $40,000 in Taxpayer Funds

Amidst the redistricting kerfluffle plaguing Missouri Republicans, where they've been bickering over which congressional boundaries would best protect their cronies while disenfranchising half the state's population, Post-Dispatch reporter Rebecca Berg made this interesting observation:

On Monday and Thursday, the House met for only a technical session, during which no floor debate takes place. The body then met for an unorthodox Friday session to take a quick vote on a revised redistricting map.

The total cost to taxpayers: nearly $40,000 for paying legislators' expenses for three days in which little public work was being done.

But remember, they really really really care about taxpayer money in the bottom of their hearts.

Kinder's Office Claims They "Lost" The Records That Totally Prove them Right

Today, Peter Kinder announced that he would be paying back the $35,050 of taxpayer money he spent staying in St. Louis hotels. Or, rather, he would use campaign funds to pay back the money. However, as Jo Mannies notes at the Beacon, this might cause some additional problems:

But using campaign money could set Kinder up for a new round of political headaches. Campaign money is not to be used for personal expenses, and has gotten some state officials in trouble when the Missouri Ethics Commission found them guilty of doing so. (Just ask former state Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, who was accused of using campaign money for personal expenses, such as buying a truck and paying taxes.)

The Missouri Democratic Party filed the ethics complaint that got Davis into hot water and may be about to do the same thing to Kinder as a result of his decision to use campaign money for the $35,000. That's because some of the stays have been linked to personal events, such as attending a wedding.

The fact that Kinder is paying it back sure seems like an admission of guilt. However, he's still claiming that he "will never apologize" and that the whole thing is the result of a "search and destroy mission" by the Post-Dispatch. With chest-thumping bravado like this, Kinder must really have some good evidence that he wasn't using the taxpayer money for personal or political purposes, right?

Actually, it's quite the opposite. It was already pointed out that many of Kinder's trips to St. Louis were accompanied by no explanation whatsoever for why he was in town. And now his office has told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that they "lost" the records of what he was doing:

Bill Kenney, Kinder's chief of staff, added that the lieutenant governor's official schedule goes into greater detail and lists more events than do expense reports and invoices. However, Kenney said, the state Office of Administration has lost all records of Kinder's calendars prior to June 2009.

Uh huh. He "lost" them. I think some more investigation is in order.

Peter Kinder's Problems In a Nutshell

Here's the short version of the excellent investigative reporting on Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder by Jake Wagman:

The Lt. Governor is only supposed to spend taxpayer money on activities that are essential for performing his official duties:

According to Missouri regulations, the state government will foot the bill for travel only if "limited to those expenses authorized and essential for transacting official business of the state."

But the "official duties" of the Lt. Governor are pretty limited:

The governor, the state's chief executive, also has broad responsibilities under the state constitution. The lieutenant governor's role is more prescribed. In addition to serving as senior citizens' advocate, he is the tie-breaking vote in the state Senate, heads the line of succession to replace the governor and sits on several economic development boards.

Kinder used taxpayer money to stay at hotels when he was in town for things like tea party rallies (where he was introduced as "our next Governor") and baseball games:

Kinder has billed the state three times to attend events organized by Tea Party groups, which have criticized government spending. On April 15, when he spoke at Tea Party events in St. Louis and St. Charles counties, Kinder charged taxpayers $118 to stay at the Chase and $28 for dinner at Oceano in Clayton.

When the Cardinals were in the World Series in 2006, Kinder billed taxpayers to stay at the Chase so he could attend an invitation-only party thrown by Major League Baseball at the City Museum.

On the night before the 2009 Cardinals opener, invoices from Kinder's office show he billed taxpayers to stay the night at the Chase. While his expense report lists no events for the day, according to Ethics Commission filings, an Anheuser-Busch lobbyist gave Kinder a $150 ticket to the game.

Later in 2009, Kinder spent three nights at the Chase - costing taxpayers $357 - the week that baseball's All-Star Game was held in St. Louis.

In fact, Kinder provided no reasons whatsoever for many of his taxpayer-funded stays:

More than two dozen times since 2006, Kinder billed taxpayers for hotel stays when no official events appeared on expense reimbursement forms or invoices. Kinder's office says his "schedule often excludes appointments and meetings that are made while he is traveling" or that he schedules himself.

Kinder also refused comment for the story:

Kinder, a Republican who is widely expected to run for governor next year, declined to be interviewed for this story. "I'm not talking to you," Kinder told a reporter before hanging up the phone

Kinder says he didn't do anything wrong. But if that's true, then why did he decide to rent an apartment in St. Louis using campaign funds, rather than taxpayer funds, only after the story broke? As Sean asks, why didn't Kinder do this a long time ago? And, of course, all of this is made much worse by the fact that Kinder has frequently criticized the travel of Governor Nixon and continuously accuses Democrats of wasting taxpayers' money.