Missouri governor shuns state plane, flies at private costs

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is shunning the state plane, instead flying on private and commercial aircraft in a move that will save the state thousands of dollars but could make it more difficult to know exactly who pays for his travel.

Since taking office more than six weeks ago, the Republican governor has not flown even once on a state airplane, his staff said Wednesday. That's a significant departure from his Democratic predecessor, Jay Nixon, who frequently used state airplanes during his eight years in office.

Greitens is "committed to spending as little as possible of the taxpayers' dollars on travel," the governor's chief of staff, Michael Roche, told members of the House Budget Committee who raised questions about his airplane use.

The governor traveled to events Wednesday in the St. Louis area in a vehicle driven by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which provides his security, Greitens' senior adviser Austin Chambers told The Associated Press.

Greitens plans to take a chartered plane Friday to Las Vegas to speak at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting and to Springfield on Saturday for the Missouri Republicans' annual Lincoln Days event, Chambers said. He is to continue on a private plane later that day to Washington, where he is to attend conferences of the National Governors Association and Republican Governors Association, Chambers said.

The costs for those flights will be split among several private or political entities, he said.

Who pays for Greitens' flights is being decided on a case-by-case basis.

When Greitens flew to Washington in late January to meet with Vice President Mike Pence and attend an Alfalfa Club dinner, he took a commercial flight paid for with campaign funds, Chambers said. That means the cost should show up on Greitens' campaign finance report due in mid-April.

Greitens used a private plane when he flew to Springfield and Poplar Bluff on Feb. 6 for ceremonial signings of a right-to-work law barring mandatory union dues. The costs for that trip might not have to be publicly reported, because it wasn't a lobbyist gift and Missouri's personal financial disclosure forms require the listing only of out-of-state travel paid for by third parties.

Some Democratic lawmakers are troubled by the potential lack of transparency.

"For me, that raises concerns, because we don't know who he may be beholden to and what those connections are," said Rep. Randy Dunn of Kansas City.

Chambers said what's important is who's not paying for the trips.

"I think what matters the most to Missourians is that we're trying to ease the burden on the taxpayers," he said. "So that their tax money isn't being spent on air travel."

The Highway Patrol spent $5.6 million in December 2012 to buy a new twin-engine turbo-prop plane that was used routinely by Nixon. It costs $1,130 per flight hour to operate the plane, plus $120 an hour for the two pilots.

Nixon's predecessor, Republican Gov. Matt Blunt, avoided using the state plane through much of his tenure. He typically took a private plane on official business and paid for it with campaign funds, which is allowed under Missouri law.

But Chambers said that is difficult to do, because a ballot measure approved by voters in November limits cash and in-kind donations to candidates at $2,600 per election.

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