Congressional Rides On The Taxpayers' Dime

BROOKSVILLE - When U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite wants to get around her district here in west central Florida, she hops into a 2007 Chevrolet Impala.
The lease payment of $360.68 and the gas in the tank is paid for by taxpayers.
The Chevy gets 18 miles per gallon in the city, 28 on the highway.
A leased vehicle is one of the optional benefits of serving in the House of Representatives. Taxpayers spend about $1 million per year to lease vehicles for 127 members of the House of Representatives, more than a quarter of the 435-member body.
House members can choose to use their own vehicles and be reimbursed at a rate of 50.5 cents per mile. Up until this year, Brown-Waite chose that option.
She is one of 11 Florida House representatives - nine Republicans and two Democrats - who currently choose to lease a car.
Brown-Waite's spokesman Charlie Keller was out of the office Monday and couldn't be reached for comment. Her chief of staff Pete Meachum did not return a call.
But last month Keller provided to The Tampa Tribune a letter penned by Brown-Waite to a constituent in Levy County who'd asked about her car lease after seeing a New York Times story on lawmakers in New York.
In the letter, Brown-Waite said she'd "done the math" and "quickly realized that leasing a vehicle would actually save taxpayer funds in the long run."
The eight counties that make up the 5th District - all of Hernando, Citrus and Levy County and portions of Pasco, Sumter, Lake and Marion and Polk -- are "geographically diverse and encompass more than 4,800 square miles," Brown-Waite wrote.
She cited as an example the 115-mile, one-way trip from Williston in Levy to Lakeland in Polk County that would cost $58 in mileage reimbursements.
"The Chevy is used by my staff and me whenever possible to cut down on mileage reimbursements and keep the costs to taxpayers as low as possible," she said.
She said that "adding up the total mileage traveled by my staff and me over the course of a given month would be more than the $360 it costs to lease the Chevy."
The lease payments of the 11 Florida lawmakers cover a wide range, according to a database created by Media General New Service using information from congressional records and individual members' offices.
Comparisons of the monthly lease payments are problematic at best because some payments listed in congressional records include the cost of insurance. As well, the leases are usually taken for just two years to coincide with House terms and reflect no down payment.
These factors can account for eye-popping monthly payments. The payment for Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart's Chrysler 300 is $863. Diaz-Balart is a Miami Republican.
Still, according to a Media General New Service database, the lease payment for Brown-Waite's Impala is the second lowest of the Florida lawmakers.
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, pays $327 a month for a 2005 Ford 500 sedan.
One statistic that can be compared, though, is fuel-efficiency.
Lawmakers must now lease fuel efficient, low-emission vehicles now that a provision placed in an energy bill passed in 2005 is taking effect. Representatives whose vehicles aren't on the approved list can keep the cars until the lease is up.
Some lawmakers were ahead of that curve and already lease small import sedans on the approved list such as the Honda Civic or Toyota Camry. Many already lease hybrids. There are two Toyota Priuses, a hybrid Toyota Camry (33 miles per gallon city) a hybrid Honda Civic (40 miles per gallon city) and 10 hybrid SUVs. The hybrid SUVs get between 28 and 34 miles per gallon in the city.
Florida's lawmakers, however, prefer medium-sized sedans, SUVs and even a Jeep. None drive a hybrid.
Brown-Waite's Impala has the best fuel efficiency among them. It also can run on flex fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
The biggest gas guzzlers on the list are Rep. Kendrick Meek's 2006 GMC Yukon and Rep. Ric Keller's 2007 Mercury Mountaineer. Both get 13 miles per gallon in the city.
Meek is a Miami Democrat. Keller is a Republican from Orlando.
Keller's spokesman did not return a call.
But Meek has seen the green light, said his spokesman Adam Emerson. Meek's lease is up next year and, assuming he's re-elected in November, will be leasing "a green automobile that takes flex fuel," Emerson said.
He noted that Meek recently bought a Ford Escape hybrid, a small SUV, for his personal vehicle.
"Simply put, Congressman Meek isn't contemplating the green movement, he's embraced it," Emerson said. "And for him, a big part of going green, is driving an eco-friendly automobile."
Rep. Alcee Hastings, a South Florida Democrat, would likely win an award given to the most luxurious vehicle. Hastings leases a 2006 Infiniti M45 sedan that gets 16 miles per gallon in the city. His spokesman did not return a call.
Lawmakers in other states like luxury, too. Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, leases a 2006 Cadillac DeVille for $774 per month; Rep. Gregory Meeks, also a Democrat from New York, leases a 2007 Lexus LS460 for $998 per month.
"I believe that members of Congress owe it to taxpayers to avoid leasing gas-guzzling SUVs or luxury cars," Rep. Cliff Stearns, an Ocala Republican, said in a statement Monday. Stearns said his 2007 Chrysler Town & Country minivan "provides enough room to operate as a mobile office while offering good gas mileage."
Brown-Waite, in the letter to her Levy County constituent, didn't mention specific lawmakers by name but said some of her fellow members have made some "troubling expenditures." She cited the New York Times story, which included Meeks and Rangel.
"Making office policy decisions to save money is one thing," Brown-Waite wrote. "Driving around in style is quite another."
Information from the Media General News Service was used in this report.