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$110,000 European delegation trip was "taxpayer funded vacation," report concludes
FOX 5 News at 6 p.m.aAn investigation by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Senate President Pro tem John Kennedy found a European trip lead by the outgoing lieutenant governor and president pro tem late last year should never have happened. The final report concluded the two country, multi day trip, amounted to a
ATLANTA - An investigative report from Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy concluded that a recent European trip led by the outgoing lieutenant governor and Senate president pro tem amounted to a taxpayer-funded vacation.
The investigation follows in the wake of reports by the AJC and FOX 5 I-Team about a 14-person delegation to Europe led by outgoing Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and outgoing President Pro Tem Butch Miller last November.
The I-Team reported both men left office weeks after the $110,000 trip to London and Germany was over.
At the heart of the six-page investigation of the trip was the finding that current Senate rules do not allow overseas travel. The investigative conclusion: "the expenses for this trip should not have been authorized."
The I-Team was watching last November when Duncan, just weeks before leaving office, returned home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from an eight-day European trip.
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Receipts show former Georgia leaders spent over $100K taxpayer dollars on trip
The FOX 5 I-Team obtained exclusive videos of a controversial European trip recently taken by the former Lt. Governor and Senate President Pro Tem along with state employees. But, since the legislature exempted itself from the Georgia Open Records Act, taxpayers can't find out exactly what the trip cost. When those officials left their offices two months later, Senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell looked into the receipts.
He was joined in London and Germany by outgoing President Pro Tem Sen. Butch Miller who was also leaving office within the week. Some 12 others joined in including Republican state Sen. Clint Dixon, Democratic Senators Sonya Halpern, Sheikh Rahman, and Emanuel Jones.
When asked what he learned from the trip, Sen. Emanuel Jones told the FOX 5 I-Team's Dale Russell, "Ah, um. It was an incredible trip."
The I-Team obtained exclusive videos of the trip that were never made public after questions were raised about who went and why, and how much it cost.
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Senate Investigation says recent European trip was a 'taxpayer-funded vacation'
An investigative report from Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy concluded that a recent European trip led by the outgoing Lt. governor and Senate president pro tem amounted to a taxpayer-funded vacation.
Russell asked, "is this just a junket?" Jones responded by saying " Well, certainly considering those that were on the trip, I can potentially see why some would feel that way."
Based on travel records from two departments and a source familiar with the trip the I-Team estimates the cost to be around $110,000.
After the trip was made public by the media, there was enough money spent and enough questions raised for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and President Pro Tem John Kennedy to open an investigation.
Their report concentrated on the cost of the trip from the Senate and Lt. Governor’s budget which added up to $90,194.
The I-Team tracked state patrol costs for the European trip and the State Department of Economic Development as well and that came to another $20,000.
The report proposes to ban overseas travel by members of the senate, writing: "we believe it should be clear that whether from a Senator’s legislative expense account or the 4 Senate’s administrative budget, Senate funds should not be spent on overseas travel by Senators or staff."
The report also vows to publish all out-of-state travel expenses paid for using funds appropriated to the Senate and the Office of Lieutenant Governor on the Senate’s website at the end of each month.
"We believe this is an important step to ensure transparency and accountability for the use of these funds," concluded Lt. Gov. Jones and President Pro Tem Kennedy.
The proposed change would go to the Administrative Affairs Committee at its next meeting.