| Phillips: General Investigating to Examine Full-time' Employees Who Aren't Full-time |
|
|
|
| by Will Lutz | Mon, May 5, 2008, 10:34 AM |
|
Under the House Rules the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics has the authority to investigate misuse of state funds as well as police the ethics of individual House members. Today, the Austin American-Statesman's Mike Ward published a story on how some former legislators are classified as "full-time" on the payroll of current legislators but are only making a few hundred dollars a month. Full-time employees accrue credits in the state's retirement system. A link to the Statesman story is posted here.
The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Larry Phillips (R-Sherman) issued the following statement: "On April 7, 2008, Speaker Tom Craddick's office notified the House General Investigating and Ethics Committee that issues had been raised concerning the possibility of House members designing persons as full-time employees who are in fact only working part-time. Designating a state employee full-time, when the employee is in fact not full-time, is a serious matter and warrants a full investigation. "The House General Investigating and Ethics Commitee has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the conduct and ethical standards of House members and House employees [Rules of the Texas House, Rule 3, Sect. 17]. The committee is specifically authorized to investigate the expenditure of public funds [Tex. Govt. Code, Sect. 301.020(a)(3)], and it has the authority to request and receive assistance in its investigation from the state auditor and the attorney general [Tex. Govt. Code, Sect. 301.028]. As chairman of this committee, I will be utilizing that assistance in the investigation of this matter." The committee consists of Phillips, and Reps. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), Kevin Bailey (D-Houston), Harold Dutton (D-Houston), and Ken Paxton (R-McKinney).
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
