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A report released Tuesday by the
government watchdog group the Empire Center has found that the
region’s state representatives are relatively frugal with taxpayers’
money when compared to their peers.
A survey of expenditures of each
member of the state Assembly and Senate found that when it comes to
the costs associated with staff, rent, travel and supplies,
Republican Assemblywomen Teresa Sayward, Janet Duprey and Dede
Scozzafava spent mere fractions of taxpayer money relative to some
of their counterparts in fiscal year 2008-2009.
Janet Duprey was one of the most
frugal in the state’s lower legislative house. In 2008-2009 her
office spent just $214,959, placing her 144th on the list of biggest
spender’s.
Dede Scozzafava ranked 125th spending
$257,949, while Teresa Sayward was number 114, spending $269,693.
The biggest spender among the 158
Assembly members listed was Manhattan Democrat Richard Gottfried,
whose expenses totaled a whopping $875,165 in the 12-month period.
Speaker Sheldon Silver ranked sixth,
spending a total of $585,862 on travel and other expenses. Silver’s
total excludes an additional sum spent by his office when he was
acting in the Speaker of the Assembly capacity.
In a recent interview, Sayward told
WNBZ that with only three staffers she represents one of the largest
geographic districts. Meanwhile, many of her downstate counterparts
represent only a few city blocks, but employ small armies of
legislative assistants and spokespeople.
-Jon
Alexander, 2-3-10
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