Massachusetts: House Cleaning Required #2

The second relative named in the Boston Globe editorial for a Hack job is:

the brother of then-Representative Paul Kujawski.


Just a quick search turned these up:

Cape eating cost Webster Rep $16,782
Campaign $$ errors cost Paul Kujawski

For the second time in six years, state Rep. Paul Kujawski ..., D-Webster, has admitted violating state campaign finance laws, and has agreed to pay $16,782 and change his record-keeping and spending practices to avoid future violations, according to the state attorney general and campaign finance officials.

Among other alleged infractions, Mr. Kujawski, 53, in 2003 improperly used campaign funds for a trip to Texas, where he attended two football games with a Massachusetts political consultant and fundraiser, in-laws of his brother.

He also paid for his and his wife’s personal use of their car; dined at restaurants on Cape Cod and in Westport, improperly reporting the meals as business meetings; and bought business suits and had them dry-cleaned at his campaign fund’s expense... Mr. Kujawski, who admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol after a 2004 traffic stop on Route 20 in Sturbridge, said much has changed in his life since then... Read the rest of this Telegram story here.....


State Reps Pocket Travel Cash No One Else Gets
Are Some State Legislators Taking Taxpayers for a Ride?


BOSTON -- Many people spend a small fortune traveling to the office. Few of us can charge it to our employers. Unless you're a Massachusetts state legislator. Team 5 Investigates discovered they have not one, not two, but three ways to recoup expenses.

Take Rep. Paul Kujawski.

About two or three days a week, he makes the same 59-mile trip in a Ford Taurus from his home in Webster to Beacon Hill.


Team 5 Investigates Janet Wu: "Rep.Kujawski, How do you pay for your commuting expenses?"

Kujawski: "Same way you do."

Wu: "I don't think so."

Kujawski only needs to look in the rear view mirror to see who's paying for his commute.

Here's the first way.

In the past two years, taxpayers sent a check for $11,232 to Kujawski through the state's per diem program, which reimburses legislators for trips to the State House.


But there's a second way too.

During that same time period, Kujawski also collected $25,293 from his campaign fund to lease, insure and put gas in his car.

Wu: "Do you think you're double-dipping?"

Kujawski: "Do you take money --- my campaign funds are to be used at the jurisdiction of, of what I think is the most important for my campaign."

That's perfectly legal, but campaign finance laws also state, "a political committee may not pay for any expense which is otherwise paid, provided or reimbursed by the Commonwealth, such as a legislator's per diem."

Tax experts says it's a distinction that requires legislators to keep very careful records showing that gas used to get to a campaign event is not used to drive to the State House.

"You can't use the same expense to get reimbursed more than once," said Buz Aaron, a certified public accountant. "In other words, you can't double-dip on the same nickel."

But legislators like Kujawski who live more than 50 miles from the State House also are eligible for a third way to cover their costs away from home.

An obscure federal law allows dozens of Bay State lawmakers to take a tax deduction every single day Beacon Hill is in session. And since Beacon Hill hasn't been formally out of session since 1988, it's a perk that could equal an entire legislative salary.



Wu: "You're deducting your salary, you're collecting your travel expenses from ..."

Kujawski: "No, you're telling me, you're telling, you're saying things you're supposed ..."

Wu: "They're all legal, but is it ethical?"

Kujawski: "Of course it is."

From: Ballotpedia