McHOSE: WHERE WAS THE INFORMATION ON BPU TRAVEL EXPENSES LAST YEAR?

REPUBLICANS REQUESTED TRAVEL VOUCHERS DURING BUDGET PROCESS LAST YEAR, BUT MANY WERE APPARENTLY MISSING
March 13, 2006
Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose/973-726-0954
Assembly Republican Office/609-292-5339

McHOSE: WHERE WAS THE INFORMATION ON BPU TRAVEL EXPENSES LAST YEAR?

REPUBLICANS REQUESTED TRAVEL VOUCHERS DURING BUDGET PROCESS LAST YEAR, BUT MANY WERE APPARENTLY MISSING

Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose, a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, today questioned why the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities did not provide information about a number of foreign trips attended by members that were reported in this weekend’s Gannett newspapers when Republicans requested that information during last year's budget process.

"Republicans last spring asked the BPU for travel documents pertaining to the five BPU commissioners, the Chief-of-Staff, and Secretary to the Board," said McHose, R-Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon. "I was furious when I learned this morning that many of the trips detailed in this weekend’s Gannett story were not included in the documents we were given last year. This is an unacceptable oversight."

Gannett this weekend reported that the BPU has paid $1.1 million in association fees since July 1, 2002, including $327,366 in fees to two trade associations that pay the cost of many of the conferences. Those events on a number of occasions are attended by representatives of the utility companies regulated by the BPU.

One of the trips noted in the Gannett story was to Ethiopia, but it appears no vouchers were provided for that trip when requested by Republicans last year.

"We were initially told by BPU that if we wanted to see travel receipts for these seven people we would have to pay them $1,600," McHose noted. "But after fighting them on this with the help of the media they finally agreed to provide access to the documents. Now we find out the information we were given appears to have been incomplete."

McHose pointed out that among vouchers Republicans did receive were a $600 per night hotel stay for BPU Commissioner Jack Alter at the Greenbriar in West Virginia -- $300 of which was picked up by the state. Republicans also were given a voucher for a $36 prime rib and pino grigio submitted by Alter.

"This money was ultimately paid for by ratepayers and the appearance of these public officials traveling around the globe while receiving six-figure state paychecks is horrible," McHose said. "The BPU needs to reassess its travel policies and whether all of these trips and subsequent interaction between commissioners and utility representatives is appropriate. It certainly does not appear to be."

McHose said that the BPU members should be focusing their time on how to avoid utility rate increases like those experienced this winter rather than traveling to these events.

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