South Carolina State Senator Wes Hayes, Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, sent a curious letter to his fellow senators in early November. The subject of the letter is “Reimbursements from Campaign Accounts – - Lodging, Meal and Travel Expenses Defrayed by Subsistence and Mileage Allowances” sounds like an administrative sleep-inducing policy item.
But…
Why is a letter on a subject such as this coming from the Ethics Committee chair?
Well, the letter reminds senators that certain expenses are defrayed by allowances already provided by the state and to pay for them from campaign accounts “most likely violate South Carolina Ethics, Government Accountability, and Campaign Reform Act.“
Then there is this…
Therefore, beginning with the Campaign Disclosure Report (the “Report”) due January 10, 2010, Members should cease reimbursing themselves from their campaign accounts for all lodging, meal and travel expenses that are defrayed by a subsistence or mileage allowance from the State. [emphasis added]
So… the Holier-Than-Sanford State Senate is being advised to STOP violating the law. This isn’t just a reminder about where the line is between state-provided subsistence funds for legislators and political campaign funds – it’s telling them to “CEASE REIMBURSING THEMSELVES FROM THEIR CAMPAIGN ACCOUNTS.“
Clearly, Senator Hayes, nay, the Senate Ethics Committee KNOWS that legislators for whom they have oversight are violating the law. And what do they do? They tell them to stop.
Don’t the citizens of South Carolina deserve better? Like… WHO is doing WHAT?
Yes. Yes they do.
And since Wes Hayes won’t do his job, I guess I’ll have to do it for him.
Stand by for specifics…
NEXT: Senators Are Such Sports
Has anyone else realized that our state legislators are, for the most part, a bunch of hypocrites? They parade the governor around like some sort of common criminal – while behind the scenes circling the wagons to protect themselves.
Let’s hope there’s a full investigation into who’s spending “what.” But I won’t hold my breath waiting for the Ethics Commission or the good ol’ boys in the AG’s office to investigate.
The best thing to do would be to vote a bunch of these bozos out of office in 2010!
The House and Senate Ethics Committees are Foxes guarding the Henhouse and always have been. They should be under the same State Ethics Commission the rest of us are. Maybe the Attorney General needs to look into this one!
what happened to the truth?
Great job, GarnetSpy!
Maybe we need a “citizen’s ethics oversight committee” led by term-limited (one year) unpaid, and non-reimbursed volunteers representing each county.
Such a court should have the power to force legislators to testify under oath (after a speedy grand jury type indictment procedure among the volunteer representatives) concerning any evidence of misbehavior while in office.
All this court would do is provide information from the testimonies for later investigations and prosecutions. Any actual criminal prosecutions would be performed later by the state courts in the established judiciary system.
You know, around the time of the Sanford affair debacle, there was an article in the State saying that some of the members of the general assembly had not paid taxes. I personally don’t believe in income taxes, but if I have the pay them, I think the legislators should too. The article did not say names and I haven’t seen any reference to it since. It makes me angry that things like that get swept under the rug. To me, that was ten times more upsetting than Sanford sleeping around.