Some of CA Governor Arnold Schwarnezenegger’s top officials pay for travel and lodgeing with taxpayer funds, reports the LA Times yesterday. On one occasion, we paid for Director of Consumer Affairs Carrie Lopez to fly from Sacramento to Los Angeles for a Justin Timberlake concert.
This story comes while California struggles to pay its state employees as legislators and the Governor try to patch a $42 billion hole in the budget.
From The LA Times:
Over the last two years, as California has slashed services and scrambled to pay bills, top administration officials have made free use of government expense accounts with little oversight and, in some cases, no documentation, The Times has found.
Together, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars on state-funded trips between Sacramento and the areas where they live, justifying the travel as necessary for state business. Some built weekend trips around one short meeting, and some charged the state to attend events with no apparent connection to their jobs.
Often their expense reports were approved by subordinates. Many of the costs were incurred after the governor issued an executive order a year ago that state agencies avoid all nonessential travel due to California’s fiscal emergency. [Read More]
