Texas senators cut their expenses by just 1 percent from August 2010 to 2011 — a total of $101,000.
That’s a paltry sum compared to the savings in 2010, when senators purposefully cut their budgets with reforms that included limiting printing and postage. Ultimately, senators saved $1.3 million in 2010 over 2009.
Senators can spend taxpayer money on their office operations as they see fit based on the needs of their districts, though there are some restrictions, such as limits on how many periodical subscriptions they can buy. Some senators spend more on printing or bulk mail to constituents; others pay for multiple district offices.
At the beginning of legislative session, the Senate collectively decides on a spending limit for staff salaries and travel, which in 2011 was $35,625 monthly. All other expenses must be approved by the secretary of the Senate, Patsy Spaw.
According to an expense report from Spaw, Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, spent more than any other senator for the third year in a row. His total expenses were $571,000 in 2011. The next-highest spender, fellow Houston Democratic Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr., spent $52,000 less than Ellis.
“I’m not ashamed that my communication expenses are higher than other offices,” Ellis said in an email to the Tribune. “Many of the issues I fight for on behalf of working families do not have paid lobbyists, so we have to do outreach to advance policies that help the middle class and lower-income Texans.”
Ellis’ operating expenses alone were some $34,000 greater than any other senator’s. That’s mainly because of the $93,000 he spent on rent for his district office in downtown Houston. In comparison, Gallegos spent about $56,000 on rent for his district office in Galena Park. Ellis said he chose the downtown location because it's “readily accessible” to his constituents by mass transit, car, bike or foot.
“I am trying to get the landlord to reduce the rent when the lease expires,” he said.
Still, Ellis spent about $2,600 less this year than in the previous fiscal year. To reduce spending, Ellis said, he was forced to lay off staff, and his office found creative ways to make efficiently use resources.
For all senators, the greatest expense is payroll, which cost $12.3 million in fiscal year 2011, about $152,000 less than in fiscal year 2010.
The biggest overall spending drop was in operating expenses, which senators cut by a total of nearly $1.2 million in fiscal year 2011.
They increased spending on communications by nearly $1 million, and on supplies by nearly $150,000.
Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, spent the least, with a total of about $282,000, according to the expense reports. But his chief of staff Sushma Smith said that was in part because Rodríguez didn’t take office until Jan. 11.
“Our operating expenses were very low because he didn’t have a district office until at least June,” Smith said. And Rodríguez had only eight months of payroll instead of 12, like the other senators. “Next year I would imagine we would be somewhere in the middle of the pack,” she said.
Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, spent the second-smallest amount this year, about $386,000. “I try to make every decision with full awareness that these are the taxpayers' dollars, not mine,” Birdwell said.
Spaw said the Senate as a whole has made several “good-faith efforts” to reduce spending.
The senators’ per diem rate used to be $168 per day, and the federal amount was set to increase this past January, but Spaw said the lieutenant governor and speaker of the House requested that the per diem be reduced to $150 per day.
The Senate also usually spends more in January to add more staff, but this past year, senators voted to maintain their staffing levels.
Also, to save money on postage and printing, senators this year limited the frequency of newsletters to their constituents from once a fiscal year to once a biennium.
“It’s one of those things that doesn’t seem to add up to a whole lot,” Spaw said, “but we’re trying to cut back any way we can.”
