The more information that comes out about this story, the worse it seems:
This year, Gov. Jay Nixon's office budgeted $52,716 for in-state travel, and spent about $1.8 million paying 25 employees. In addition to those official expenses, though, state departments have paid nearly $400,000 for Nixon's air travel costs since he took office two years ago, and footed a $224,000 annual bill for the combined salaries of four of his employees.
Records from the Office of Budget and Planning show that, of 254 trips since 2009 totaling $388,513, only seven were paid for by the governor's office. In addition, the costs associated with 41 separate trips were split among all departments, even when the trip appeared to benefit one particular department or none at all.
The governor's office maintains that the trips are of value to departments and constituents.
But to Rep. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, House Budget Committee chairman, the governor's travel records tell a different story - such as when Nixon spent $1,130 to visit the Branson theme park Silver Dollar City, and billed the trip to the Department of Economic Development.
"I would love to go to Silver Dollar City," Silvey said. "But taxpayers should not be paying for you to go to Silver Dollar City when you're telling everyone else we've got to tighten our belts."
It might be legal, but it's definitely not ethical or responsible for Nixon to spill his budget largesse over into other state agencies. His office is spending an outrageous amount of money when it should be cutting its budget, and they're doing it with ethically questionable billing practices.
If the Nixon administration wanted to demonstrate even a measure of compassion for the people and state employees who are being affected by his budget cuts, he should participate in at least a small but meaningful way himself.
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