Lawmaker's Travel Expenses Raise Eyebrows Under Gold Dome

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(2/11/08) State Rep. Sharon Beasley-Teague, D-Red Oak, who faces a possible State Ethics Commission investigation stemming from her campaign disclosure reports, says she was just doing her job last year when she got into her car and headed for points north, south, east and west, rolling up extraordinary daily mileage figures on the taxpayer’s dime that have raised eyebrows under the Gold Dome.

Her goal, she says, was to study first-hand the impact of the drought and of the South Georgia fires, and to learn whether people outside of the metro area were as interested as she in raising the state minimum wage.

Like all members of the House, Beasley-Teague is eligible to use seven “committee of one” days a year, in which they may bill the state for the $173 per diem they normally receive during the session and for attending interim committee meetings, and they may charge actual mileage for performing whatever legislative duties they deem appropriate or necessary. (During the session, mileage reimbursement is limited to one roundtrip per week.)

Most lawmakers use “committee of one” days in their districts or at the Capitol, according to the Legislative Fiscal Office, but Beasley-Teague used her seven days traveling the state, racking up mileage (at a reimbursement rate of 48.5 cents a mile) that a long-haul trucker might admire.

For example:

* She reported that on April 28, she drove from Fairburn to Cordele to Valdosta to Jekyll Island and back to Fairburn - all in one day. On the same expense report, she said that a few days later, on May 1, she drove from Fairburn to Macon to Tybee Island and back to Fairburn again - all in one day. For the two days, she was reimbursed $593.16 for 1,223 miles of driving.

* For May 2 and May 15, she also reported extensive daily driving on “committee of one days.” The first was from Fairburn to St. Marys and back to Fairburn, a distance of 696 miles. The second was from Fairburn to St. Simons to the state Capitol to Fairburn, a distance of 653 miles. Total mileage reimbursement for 1,349 miles: $654.27

* For July 5, another “committee of one” day, she reported driving 698 miles from Fairburn to St. Marys and back to Fairburn. She was reimbursed $338.53.

* For Sept. 10, also a “committee of one” day, she reported 603 miles logged from Fairburn to Dublin to Waycross to Augusta to Flowery Branch to Young Harris to Cartersville and back to Fairburn. Reimbursement for that was $292.46.

* For Oct. 16, her last “committee of one” claim for 2007, she reported 889 miles driven from Fairburn to Albany to Waycross to Savannah to Athens to Dillard to Fairburn. Reimbursement: $431.16

Just as Beasley-Teague’s expense reimbursement claims have raised questions in state offices, so have some of her campaign disclosure reports.

Only a few weeks ago, the staff of the State Ethics Commission submitted a request to the board to open a “probable cause” hearing to determine if she is in violation of the Ethics in Government Act.

The staff said an investigation was warranted “to determine whether campaign funds have been misappropriated, misreported or misspent.”

The report questions Beasley-Teague’s Sept. 30, 2006 report in which she shows a lump-sum $9,123.54 in expenditures of less than $101. (Receipts and expenditures below that dollar amount do not have to be itemized.) Says the staff: “Such an anomalous disclosure needs further investigation to determine whether campaign funds have been misappropriated, misreported or misspent in violation of the act.”

The staff also called the commission’s attention to the apparent finding that prior to her January 2005 report, Beasley-Teague reimbursed herself $4,423.40 more in campaign funds than she actually contributed or loaned to the campaign.

She said in an interview with Insider Friday she does not believe she has done anything wrong.

She said she plans to get someone to pull her campaign disclosure reports and reconcile them with the receipts.

As for why anyone would want to log the kind of daily mileage her expense reimbursement claims show, she said, “Because I have to go to work. I can’t spend that much time.”

She added, “If we’re not supposed to go around the state, then okay. I’ll stop doing it if I’m not supposed to talk to people. It’s the only method I know ... (although) I’m learning to do e-mail.”

Her mileage claims have come to the attention of the House Committee on Information and Audits, whose former chairman, the late Rep. Dan Lakly, wrote Beasley-Teague a letter in May seeking further information about a specific claim.

And there appears to be some concern within her own caucus.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Calvin Smyre of Columbus is aware that Beasley-Teague’s claims have raised questions. He said Friday: “As chair of the House Democratic Caucus, I would caution our members to watch very carefully the expense reports and mileage reports as it relates to exercising their responsibilities and duties as state legislators.”