MADISON -- The practice of lawmakers' spending campaign funds on the same day they claim a daily allowance from the state for living expenses is likely to be reviewed by the Government Accountability Board when it takes power early next year.
Board member David G. Deininger, a former Court of Appeals judge who served in the Assembly for eight years, said he will ask for a staff review of the practice when the new board formally assumes jurisdiction from the now-separate state Ethics and Elections boards.
The Journal Sentinel reported on Sunday that during the 2005-'06 election cycle, some legislators wrote off meals, hotels, receptions and meetings as campaign expenses on days they also claimed their official expense allowance.
Most lawmakers receive a per diem of $88 for living expenses while they are in Madison on official business; those who live in Dane County receive $44 a day.
Deininger said he wants to be sure the practice does not violate any law, rule or regulation, as lawmakers said it did not. The Journal Sentinel review showed there was no widespread abuse of per diem, but there is also very little oversight.
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"I was somewhat surprised, and I found it unusual," Deininger said of the practice, which he said he did not know was occurring. "It would be something we would want to at least take a look at."
Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said legislators are "gaming the system" and double-billing taxpayers and contributors "to pad their own bank accounts."
McCabe, whose group monitors campaign finance reports, said he will ask the Government Accountability Board to review the practice.
Jay Heck, executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause in Wisconsin, said some more accountability might have to be introduced.
"Whenever there's a gray area like this, it's to the benefit of not only the citizens but elected officials to clarify it," he said.
One of six former judges who will run the Government Accountability Board, Deininger said he expects the new board to "be more proactive" than the current Elections and Ethics boards.
When he was a member of the Assembly from 1987 to 1994, Deininger said, he never took his daily expense allowance and paid for other items with campaign cash on the same day.
Deininger said he can't request a staff review and report on the practice until the new board is in place. The staff review will not be an investigation, he said, but will tell the board whether a formal investigation is justified.
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The Journal Sentinel's review found that 15 legislators -- eight Democrats and seven Republicans -- billed their campaigns for expenses on days they also claimed their expense allowance. Included was Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar.
-- Copyright © 2007, Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel/Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
