Wisconsin Governor Cheats Taxpayers on Lavish Travel Expenses

Monday, July 6, 2009 2:55 PM by Mattie Duppler

ATR and CFA have been following the opaque train-wreck that is the Wisconsin budget. However, news this weekend on the accounting practices by the Doyle administration provides even more evidence that the Badger State is desperately in need of reform. The Journal-Sentinel reports that Gov. Doyle has failed to properly file 75% of his travel expenses, including extravagant trips to Ireland and London. At the crux of CFA’s transparency efforts is requiring the disclosure of state-issued credit cards, and the story in Wisconsin is a template for why: documentation of purchases made on these cards issued to Doyle’s office is missing from hundreds of pages of records.

Of course, the clueless governor’s office continues to defend its practices and even admonishes the Department of Administration’s practices. When asked about the governor’s accounting practices, Doyle’s chief of staff has this to say: 

“Absolutely not, absolutely not…We will not limit his role or chain him down and not allow him to fulfill his duties as governor.” 

This statement, of course, begs the question: How, exactly, is a Gov. Doyle “limited” in his role as governor by properly disclosing his use of taxpayers’ money? 

Moreover, it’s obvious that Doyle thinks “fulfilling his role as governor” amounts to milking Wisconsinites for his lavish lifestyle – some of the information he failed to disclosure were a $1,500 chauffeured limousine ride in Canada and business-class plane tickets on a flight to Ireland while state policy requires state employees to purchase the cheapest airfare for trips, which is described as coach fare. 

However, the egregious abuse of power doesn’t end there. The total of violations (ranging from missing receipts to only providing an aggregated credit statement of some expenditures ) came to 145 instances, an estimate that only covers the last two years of the six Doyle has been in office. Further, the ethos of arrogance with which the Governor’s staff justifies his negligence tells, perhaps, a more harrowing story for Wisconsin – Doyle’s legal counsel said that any accounting errors in the Governor’s office were acceptable since, as the highest-ranking state official, the governor is in a “unique situation.” This kind of logic, that precludes holding the state’s executive accountable for any of the money he spends, bodes perilously for a state whose fiscal health is in such poor condition. 

In a state that is suffering from billions of dollars of debt catalyzed by the foolish spending practices of its leadership, one would think the governor might be a little more prudent in how he spends state money. However, the budget that was passed last month on top of the growing list of Doyle Administration blunders shows that Wisconsin has yet to learn that the first step to getting out of the hole is to stop digging.

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