Written by Joe Sonka of the Courier-Journal
Following a review of former Gov. Matt Bevin’s use of taxpayer-funded aircraft, state Auditor Mike Harmon is advocating for legislation to increase the transparency of flights taken by top executive branch officials.
Harmon’s review also found that Bevin did not properly reimburse taxpayers for the use of overnight flight crews for nonofficial purposes.
In a letter to Gov. Andy Beshear Thursday, Harmon outlined his office’s review, which found that less than 3% of Bevin’s 261 flights were formally documented to disclose information such as the purpose of the flight and whether it was for personal, nonofficial business.
Though such information was documented on Bevin’s seven flights aboard aircraft owned by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, none was documented on the governor’s 254 flights on aircraft owned by the Kentucky State Police due to a reporting loophole in state law.
Noting that KRS 174.500(2) does not specifically require state police aircraft flights to document a purpose or nonofficial business, Harmon called for legislation to change this statute because of the aircrafts’ common usage by executive branch officials on flights that do not involve law enforcement activity and require the same level of privacy.
(Cross-posted via the Kentucky Press News Service. Read the rest of the article at the Courier-Journal.)
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