Three lawmakers get paid for late travel claims, and one filed most of them

Three Alaska lawmakers will be repaid about $5,970 for travel claims they filed after the deadline. One of them accounts for most of it.

Rep. Jeremy Bynum filed three of the five late claims, covering about $4,990. The Legislative Council approved all five 13-0. Two members asked questions first, and both voted yes.

Rep. Louise Stutes asked why a $2,238.85 reimbursement for December travel was categorized as "new member confirmation" when Bynum had already served a year. He said the trip covered confirming two new House members after two sitting members left, and that the Speaker's Office authorized travel for members who needed to attend.

Stutes then asked about rental car charges on Bynum's Western Legislative Academy and National Conference of State Legislatures travel, saying shuttle service is typically provided. She asked whether rental cars are approved as a matter of course when a shuttle exists. The answers she got were about the two trips.

Legislative Affairs Agency Executive Director Jessica Geary said the conference charge was taxi fare between the airport and the hotel, with shuttle service used afterward, and that on the academy trip a flight delay put Bynum in early in the morning, when a rental car cost about the same as a rideshare. Rep. Ashley Carrick said a shuttle exists for the academy but does not fit the flight schedule for anyone traveling from Alaska.

Sen. Loki Tobin questioned the accounting code used for the academy expenses, saying she understood such travel came out of legislators' office accounts. Geary said multiple funding paths exist, including approval by a presiding officer or payment from a member's office allowance.

The other two claims were smaller: $244.44 for Bjorkman and $735.30 for Gray. The chair noted Gray's was one day late and still required a council vote.