More on Sen. Gaffey

For those interested in learning more about Sen. Gaffey's investigation, here's one of two stories about him today. Feel free to leave any thoughts.

Records detail Gaffey's PAC use, double-billing for hotels
By Amanda Falcone; Record-Journal staff

With state reimbursement and money from his political action committee paying the way, Sen. Thomas P. Gaffey opted to stay in posh rooms at some of the nation's most luxurious hotels while attending events for the National Conference of State Legislators, according to a Record-Journal review of state records.

State documents and finance reports for Gaffey's political action committee reflect instances in which Gaffey billed both the state Office of Legislative Management and his political action committee for conference trips and one instance in which money from the political action committee was used to pay for a hotel upgrade.

In a recent interview, Gaffey and his attorney, Thomas Luby, acknowledged the doublebilling, calling it an oversight that occurred as a result of the senator's busy schedule. But records also show that Gaffey and a staff member were notified of state reimbursement for trips through at least two memos from the Office of Legislative Management.

The state Elections Enforcement Commission launched an investigation into Gaffey's political action committee, the Government Action Fund, in January 2008. The investigation is pending.

Tom Swan, executive director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, said he believes elections enforcement is correct in looking into the matter, adding that paying back money to his political action committee is an acknowledgement by Gaffey that he did something wrong.

Elections enforcement may choose to use Gaffey's situation as a way to change or clarify state laws, Swan said.

"PACs are not designed to be personal bank accounts," he said.

One of the trips in question occurred in August 2005 when Gaffey attended a National Conference of State Legislators' meeting in Seattle with his then-girlfriend Patricia Murphy. The Office of Legislative Management rejected some of the expenses he submitted for reimbursement, because the numbers did not correspond with Gaffey's submitted written request for out-of-state travel, documents show. The department adjusted the senator's voucher to reflect the four nights - the length of the conference - for which Gaffey initially requested payment. His expense form said he was looking to get reimbursed for five nights at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, the most expensive Seattle hotel option of the 17 choices offered to attendees.

About three months after legislative management declined to pay for the additional night, a charge of $294.77 - the cost of one night plus tax at the Fairmont - showed up on finance records for Gaffey's political action committee.

Gaffey says he used his PAC to pay for one additional night in Seattle because he attended a Democratic leadership council luncheon. He paid for other extra nights out of his own pocket, he added, noting that billing the state for a fifth night must have been an error made by staff when the paperwork was submitted.

Gaffey, however, signed off on the forms.

"It wasn't really life in the fast lane, by no stretch of the imagination," he said this week. When he went to a National Conference of State Legislators' seminar in February 2006, he stayed at a three-star luxury waterfront hotel, the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina, rather than the suggested hotel, the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk. The Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel, where the conference was held, had already been sold out when Gaffey went to make reservations.

Gaffey says he remembers both the Wyndham Harbour and Sheraton hotels being booked. As a result, he said, he took a room at the Marriott just down the street. The $244 per night cost at the Marriott, however, was more than the cost of a night at the Sheraton, and legislative management only reimbursed Gaffey at the rate he could have gotten at the Sheraton by identifying himself as a seminar participant: $149.

Gaffey then charged both the state and his PAC for the Tampa trip, another example of double- billing.

Another instance occurred when Gaffey and Murphy went to an August 2006 meeting of the national legislative conference in Nashville, where he opted to stay in a $359-pernight suite with a garden view at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center rather than a single room that would have been fully reimbursed by the state.

Upon arriving at the resort, Gaffey says, Murphy was ill, so they took the first room available - a suite at the discounted rate of $233.65 per night, which, Gaffey added, was not the fancy room some might envision.

Legislative management paid the approved nightly room rate of $179 instead of the cost of the suite. For his three-night stay, the state reimbursed him $613, and Gaffey's PAC was billed $ 1,015. The difference in cost was due to the room choice, Luby said. While the state can only reimburse for the cost of a single room at a hotel, Luby said those rules do not apply to a political action committee.

The Elections Enforcement Commission declined to comment when asked whether this was an appropriate use of PAC money, citing the investigation into the Government Action Fund.

Records show Gaffey doublebilled again for a one night-stay in 2007 at the Hotel George, described as a "hip boutique hotel" in Washington. Gaffey attended a meeting at the White House about the federal No Child Left Behind law. According to state records, his PAC was billed $449.19 for the hotel stay. The state paid the same, and also paid his other travel expenses.

Elections enforcement is looking into the Government Action Fund's expenditures, receipts and campaign finance disclosures, and Gaffey expects to pay a fine at the completion of the investigation. In addition to double-billing, Luby says, the state is also concerned about the misuse of a PAC cell phone, the reporting of credit card use on disclosure forms and other issues.

Because of his many work, legislative and family responsibilities, Gaffey says he often signs paperwork on the fly. He also said any state reimbursement is included in his paycheck, and he did not realize he was paid back for his trips until about 2007 because the reasons for reimbursement that appeared in his checks were not labeled.

Documents obtained by the Record-Journal under the Freedom of Information Act, however, show that in at least two instances, when discrepancies were found, Gaffey and a member of his staff received memos from legislative management telling the senator when to expect the reimbursement.

Legislative management sent a memo dated Feb. 6, 2007 to Gaffey's legislative aide, Robin Havelin, about Gaffey's Nashville trip, saying that Gaffey was reimbursed in his February 2007 paycheck.

A September 2005 memo was sent directly to Gaffey.

"Enclosed please find a copy of your adjusted employee expense voucher submittal for NCSL Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA. FYI, a travel reimbursement … has been processed and will be included in your Oct. 2005 payroll check," the memo stated.

"I've never seen those documents until someone recently FOIed them," Gaffey said this week.

Initially, Gaffey planned to pay back his PAC for the trips with any reimbursement he received from the state, he said, but because of the oversight, he pocketed the extra cash that came in his paycheck.

When he realized what had happened over the years, Gaffey said he began to reimburse the PAC until elections enforcement told him to hold off on any additional payments until the amount he owed was officially determined. To date, Luby says, Gaffey has written four personal checks to the committee for an amount totaling a little more than $2,000.

At least $500 of that money was not an issue of double reimbursement, but rather Gaffey paying for Patricia Murphy's January 2007 trip to Washington, for the swearing-in of U.S. Rep. Christopher S. Murphy, Luby said. Gaffey originally billed his PAC for Patricia Murphy's expenses, but after checking with elections enforcement decided to be conservative and make the payment out of pocket, Luby said, adding that he believes Patricia Murphy's trip would have been a legitimate expenditure out of the PAC because she was a volunteer on the freshman congressman's campaign.

Although there are many questions regarding Gaffey's political action committee, Luby said Gaffey never tried to gain personally from the Government Action Fund. In fact, he made personal sacrifices for the public benefit, Luby said. For example, Gaffey had to take vacation time from his job at the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority to attend the various conferences and never asks for mileage reimbursement.

"A mistake has been made, but not a mistake motivated by self-benefit," Luby said.