With campaign funds dwindling, Texas House Speaker Bonnen boosted taxpayer-funded salary of aides
AUSTIN — Lame duck Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, leaving office after he was caught on tape plotting against fellow Republican legislators, boosted the taxpayer-funded salary of several top aides just as he was cutting the amount he gives them from donated campaign funds, records show.
Bonnen’s office said campaign work dried up after he decided to bow out of politics and noted his overall payroll expenditures dropped as staffers have departed and weren’t replaced.
Political watchdogs say the expenditures, while legal, suggest Bonnen is treating the state treasury like it’s his own money while ensuring the pot of cash he received in his campaign account — which he can control and use for years — remains as big as possible once he’s out of office.
Bonnen’s campaign funds totaled about $3.4 million as of June 30, records show.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/campaign-funds-texas-house-speaker-dennis-bonnen-15500822.php
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