Seems like every election year candidates are asked to take some sort of new pledge. The latest one relates to questionable expense reimbursements that some, if not most, Arkansas legislators receive.
State legislators are underpaid in actual salaries but overpaid in generous expense reimbursements which they often have little documentation to support. In some case, the only support is a service contract with either a company owned by the legislator or with the lawmaker’s spouse.
It is a broad bipartisan problem that seems to be so institutionalized that the game might very well be taught during orientation.
The attention the issue received in recent months has motivated a group called “Conservative Arkansas” to take action. For starters, the group has developed a website — expensereimbursementissue.com — that documents expense reimbursements that legislators receive. If you want to know how much your state legislator is getting, you can check it out online.
The group’s other focus is to ask state legislative candidates this year to sign an “Expense Reimbursement Pledge.” The pledge asks candidates to promise to do several things they really should already be doing. Specifically, signers pledge to bill the state for only direct expenses they incur in the performance of their official duties, comply with IRS expense reimbursement standards and provide documentation for each expense incurred. They also pledge to refrain from seeking reimbursement for months in which they do not incur direct expenses or billing the state for political consulting from themselves or their family members, and to accept only mileage and per diem that is actually incurred.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Although this seems like a commonsense pledge that almost anyone would agree to sign, so far only five out of the 135 incumbent legislators have done so. But if some of the early skirmishes in a handful of upcoming primaries are an indication, this issue could gain more traction as the campaign season develops.
In newly drawn Senate District 1, which includes primarily Springdale, Rep. Tim Summers is running against Bart Hester in the Republican primary that will likely decide the district’s next state senator. The race is interesting in itself. Summers draws what would be considered establishment, particularly from Wal-Mart connections in the district. Hester has tapped into more of the district’s conservative grassroots and has contributors with ties to the conservative activist organization Americans for Prosperity.
The two met at a forum last week at Bud’s Family Style Chicken in Fayetteville and agreed on most of the issues, expect the expense reimbursement pledge. Hester has signed the pledge, Summers has not. Conservative Arkansas Director Patsy Wootton was at the event and pressed Summers on the issue. But Summers stood firm, saying his is to not take pledges — including the popular no-tax pledge from Grover Norquist — as he feels this could cause him a conflict after he is elected in representing the best interest of his district.
It should be noted that while not signing the pledge, Summers, along with several of his colleagues, have begun complying with its basic requirements and have voluntarily stopped expecting the generous expense reimbursements they are allowed.
In a letter to the House Management Committee dated Sept. 29, Summers asked that the automatic expense reimbursement payment be stopped and said any future expenses will be itemized and documented.
“Furthermore, I strongly encourage a review of expense reimbursement practices currently being used by members of the House of Representatives. I believe that reviewing and reforming expense practices will ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent in the most effective way,” he wrote.
Summers is likely to get his wish. Changes to the expense reimbursement rule are almost certain, not only through the efforts of Conservative Arkansas but also as a result of a lawsuit brought against a couple of state legislators on the matter.
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Jason Tolbert is an accountant and conservative political blogger. His blog — The Tolbert Report — is linked at ArkansasNews.com. His e-mail is jason@TolbertReport.com.