By Elizabeth Bewley
WASHINGTON — Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu spent $16,748 in taxpayer money on chartered plane flights around the state for her and her staff over a yearlong period beginning in April last year.
Landrieu rented private planes from Butler Aviation five times between April 1, 2011, and March 31 this year, according to a Gannett Washington Bureau analysis of Senate travel expenses.
Among her trips:
• On May 16, 2011, she spent $1,892.50 on a trip with stops in Houma, New Orleans, Patterson and Baton Rouge.
• On June 1, 2011, she spent $5,065.35 on a trip with stops in Belle Chasse, Ft. Polk, Shreveport and New Orleans.
• On Aug. 10, 2011, she spent $3,543.68 on a trip with stops in Houma, Shreveport and Baton Rouge.
• On Nov. 14, 2011, she spent $2,228.08 to fly between Marksville and New Orleans
• On Jan. 27, she spent $4,018.65 to fly between New Orleans and Lake Charles.
Landrieu rents a private plane when she’s in the state to visit as many constituents as possible, according to her spokespeople.
“Currently there are no flights between cities in Louisiana,” Landrieu spokeswoman Erin Donar said in an email. “All commercial flights go from Louisiana to a neighboring state and back again, costing significant time.
Chartered flights are occasionally used so that the senator and her staff are able to visit multiple areas of the state within a short time frame.”
Landrieu spent $165,687.30 of her office budget on all travel, including charter flights, over the yearlong period. That ranked her No. 25 for travel expenses among all senators.
Republican Sen. David Vitter ranked No. 74. He spent $89,016.06 in the same time period.
He takes commercial flights to and from the state, as does Landrieu, but said in an email that he drives from city to city for town hall meetings.
Each senator decides how much of his or her office budget to spend on travel. Lawmakers typically spend more time with constituents when they are running for re-election, said Steve Ellis, vice-president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Landrieu is up for re-election in 2014. Vitter is up in 2016.
Spokespeople for both senators said their travel habits are no different this year than they have been in the past.
“Wendy (Vitter) and I live and raise our family in south Louisiana, so I go back and forth between there and Washington,” Vitter wrote in an email.
Sen. Mary Landrieu Ranks 25th in Taxpayer Money Spent on Travel
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