Burnt Orange Report

Hubener is running ahard-nosed campaign for sure. She is helped by a Republican opponent who may be the most corrupt member of the Texas House -- a title for which the competition is especially fierce under the Craddick Cartel.

Check it out:
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/consumer_news/9480853.htm

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Lawmaker's use of staff at issue
BY Jay Root

AUSTIN - When state Rep. Ray Allen was passing bills in the Legislature last year, he relied on government employees for help. For political work, it was campaign staff. And for his prison-lobbying business, he taps private-sector workers.

Nothing remarkable there, except that they're all the same people -- Allen's Austin-based state employees -- records and interviews show.

Allen's top aide, Scott Gilmore, has even continued to draw a state salary while traveling outside Texas to consult and lobby -- for pay -- for the prison factory industry, Allen said.

The arrangement has drawn criticism from two government-watchdog groups, but the Grand Prairie Republican sees no problem with it. Allen said his employees are putting in more than enough time with the House of Representatives to justify their full-time salaries from taxpayers.

And he said they have almost always used private computers and phones -- even when working out of his taxpayer-provided office in the Capitol. Any use of state equipment has been incidental and unintended, he said. Records also show that Allen has periodically reimbursed the costs of private long-distance calls.

Allen acknowledged that it might be unusual to have employees assigned to three different jobs, but he said it is ethical and legal.

"It's probably more unusual for somebody to use state staff in a private industry business, but campaign work would be very common," Allen said. "The question is not, Is it wrong to do it? The question is, How do you keep it separate?"

But two watchdog groups question the multitasking use of state employees, particularly when they work at the Capitol.

"They need to get everything that is not directly related to the business of being a state representative out of the state Capitol," said Suzy Woodford, director of Common Cause of Texas. "I do not believe that you can keep everything that segmented."

Fred Lewis, director of Campaigns for People, said Allen should require a full written account of the precise hours his employees put in for the state, for the campaign and for Allen's lobby practice, known as Service House.

"You have to document that no public funds were spent for a person on the legislative payroll to engage in either private business or campaign work," said Lewis.

Allen's employees are paid a set salary and are expected to complete their required hours, he said, but he does not require them to keep track of their state time. House officials couldn't say how many hours are required per week for full-time status.

But Allen said that the long hours Gilmore puts in during legislative sessions more than compensate for a week in which he is lobbying in Washington or, like last summer, San Francisco.

The employees report billable hours for Allen's lobbying practice. Gilmore is also paid a $600-a-month retainer for campaign work, and other employees get paid for campaign work by the hour, Allen said.

Dozens of records provided to the Star-Telegram under the Texas Public Information Act show that Allen's employees engaged in a variety of state, private and campaign business. Allen said some work was done in the Capitol; at other times it was done at the employees' homes at nights or on weekends.

State records also show that the employees went to a staff retreat in Hamilton last year where "Service House discussion" was on the agenda together with vacation, scheduling and legislative work.

Among the points of discussion for Service House were "new projects (look at old proposals to get ideas for immediate billable hours)" and Service House "e-newsletters to be completed for immediate billing." Another entry mentioned "looking for new business prospects."

Allen said the 2003 conference involved all his state staff but was not an official state meeting.

In some cases, Allen acknowledges that state resources were mistakenly used. For example, a letter involving his lobby client was stored on the state computer used by one of his former employees, Tedrah Hutchins.

Hutchins also sent an e-mail on the state computer system, giving a "to do" list to Gilmore devoted almost entirely to Service House issues. She told Gilmore she would "e-mail you my service house hours once I get to the airport."

Allen said Hutchins, who left his office for another state job in June, erred in using state e-mail, and he described the presence of the lobby client's letter on her state computer as a "violation of everything we do and know."

"You don't put nonstate things on a state computer," he said. "She was a bit sloppy about following her directions."

Hutchins said she did not know how the letter got on her computer. She said she was told not to use state computers for nonstate work but did recall once compiling a campaign report on a state computer.

She said that Allen and Gilmore told her to use separate nonstate filing cabinets, computers and phone lines in the Capitol office.

"They said as long as we met our state obligations and worked off the private phone lines and private computer, that there wasn't a problem with it," she said. "I took them at their word."

Allen makes $7,200 a year as a part-time state legislator, not including per diem payments during sessions. He said he made about $35,000 in 2003 from Service House. He also made about $10,000 teaching gun-safety courses.

"I'm not a bit embarrassed to be doing the work I'm doing," Allen said. "I'm a little embarrassed it doesn't pay better."

Gilmore makes the maximum House employee salary, or $43,680, while drawing about $22,000 from Service House in 2003 plus the retainer pay from the campaign, Allen said.

Service House's sole client is the National Correctional Industries Association, which promotes programs using inmate labor in private industry.

Allen, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, said the expertise he gained on the issue in Texas has helped him make what he calls an "honest living" by promoting prison industries outside the state.

"I didn't come to the Legislature with a big business or an insurance company or a law firm keeping me on retainer," said Allen, who owned a small publishing company before he was elected to the House.