From Crain's Chicago Business
Guv's allies fly high on state planes
From the Crain's Chicago Business Newsroom
First-class perk
August 07, 2004
By Greg Hinz and Shruti Daté Singh
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Gov. Rod Blagojevich is taking full advantage of a treasured Springfield perk,
offering convenient, low-fare travel on state-owned airplanes to political backers.
According to official records, Gov. Blagojevich has traveled to Carbondale with
a labor leader and his former campaign chairman, to Mount Vernon, Champaign
and Chicago with his chief fund-raiser and to Springfield with a friendly business
leader — a total of 20 trips with non-governmental employees during his
18 months in office. Predecessor George Ryan, by comparison, made seven such
trips during his last 18 months as governor.
The trips are legal, according to a spokesman for the Illinois Department of
Transportation. But they come despite repeated promises by Gov. Blagojevich
that he would change the way business is done in Springfield. The trips also
occurred during a period when the governor amassed a record $10.2 million in
his campaign fund, money that could be used to charter private planes.
"The rhetoric and the reality don't line up," says Kent Redfield,
professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield,
who was briefed on Crain's findings. He calls the flights an example of how
day-to-day politicking by this governor "is much more visible than it was
with Ryan or (former Gov. Jim) Edgar."
Mr. Ryan "generally would charter a private plane" if political friends
were with him, according to his former press secretary Dennis Culloton.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Blagojevich says the trips were taken to funerals, press
conferences, legislative meetings and the like, adding that the governor was
"very vigilant" in paying the political travel rate for any non-state
employee who accompanied him. The spokeswoman says she didn't know if any of
the flights were to political events.
"These planes were going to be flying to their destinations anyhow,"
since the governor wanted to go there, she added. "By having the non-government
employees fly at the political rate, we were actually spreading the cost and
saving the taxpayers money."
The state operates two Beech King Air 350 twin turbo prop aircraft, spending
about $1.1 million a year on regular service between Chicago and Springfield
and occasional flights as needed to other locales (CRAIN'S, May 10). Seats are
available for elected state officials and workers, but top officials like the
governor and the four legislative leaders have a special right: They can invite
political guests to ride along.
Under state Transportation Department rules, political users pay 75 cents a
mile. That's well above the 41 cents a mile a state agency is billed when one
of its workers flies, but still generally a good deal compared with commercial
airline rates.
For instance, on Jan. 14, 2003, just a few days after he was sworn into office,
Gov. Blagojevich invited his top fund-raiser, Chicago roofing executive Christopher
Kelly, to accompany him on a flight from Chicago to Springfield. Gov. Blagojevich
was listed in flight logs as on a "bus(iness)" trip, Mr. Kelly as
a "pol(itical)" traveler.
Mr. Kelly reimbursed the state $114.75 for his flight, per Transportation Department
rules. Commercial airfares for last-minute travel on the route range from $133.20
to $326.23, depending on the time of day and availability of seats, according
to ticket agents for American Eagle and United Express, which fly the route.
Other reimbursements
Mr. Kelly's reimbursement is far less than House Republican leader Tom Cross
paid in May to fly himself, spokesman David Dring and state Rep. Brent Hassert,
R-Romeoville, to a Chicago political event and back to Springfield on a state
plane. Mr. Cross, of Oswego, reimbursed the state a total of $1,752, or $292
per person each way — more than twice what Mr. Kelly paid. Mr. Cross "wanted
to err on the side of maximum reimbursement," since the state added a special
flight just for him, says Mr. Dring.
On another occasion, Mr. Kelly and Kelly Glynn, head of the governor's campaign
committee, Friends of Blagojevich, accompanied Gov. Blagojevich on a Chicago-to-Champaign
trip. Ms. Glynn flew one way, on the return leg of the trip, paying $88.50,
according to Transportation Department flight logs; Mr. Kelly paid $177 round-trip.
But American Eagle, the only commercial carrier serving the route, this week
quoted a price of $383.70 for the same round-trip.
Sometimes, the state planes were used for routes that no commercial carrier
provides, such as a one-day trip by Messrs. Blagojevich and Kelly from Chicago
to Alton to Mount Vernon to Marion and back to Chicago. Without the state aircraft,
the pair would have had to charter a plane. Charters for six-seat planes cost
between $2,200 and $6,000, depending on the length of the flight, according
to local charter firms.
More with Rod
Among others who flew with Gov. Blagojevich from January 2003 through June 2004:
lobbyist and former Blagojevich campaign official John Wyma and Illinois Retail
Merchants Assn. President and CEO David Vite. All reimbursed the state at the
political travel rate.
Illinois AFL-CIO President Margaret Blackshere took two flights. She says one,
to Washington, D.C., was part of an effort to get Congress to boost transportation
aid, and the other cost her a "not cheap" $390, to attend the funeral
of former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon in Carbondale.
Messrs. Kelly and Wyma and Ms. Glynn declined comment. Mr. Vite says he was
promoting the governor's pension reform plan and considered his Feb. 26 flight
government-related.
©2004 by Crain Communications Inc.