With their judicial conference at a resort in Maui starting this weekend, the federal judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have now given Congress more details about their gathering, which critics in Congress say could cost more than $1 million.
The documents also included a mea culpa of sorts from the western group of judges on the issue of how much the taxpayer is paying for this trip.
"In hindsight, had we foreseen the nation's current fiscal problems, we may have chosen a different site for this year's conference," wrote Chief Judge Alex Kosinski of the Ninth Circuit.
Kozinksi said scrapping this year's gathering would not have made financial sense, because of the "enormous penalties" involved.
"While it is too late to change course this year, the Ninth Circuit has moved to reschedule its 2013 conference to 2014," Kozinski wrote about the move to delay next year's meeting that had been set for Monterey, California.
The 13 page contract between the Ninth Circuit and the Hyatt resort in Maui has a number of interesting items in it - maybe I'm not familiar with details like this, but here are some that caught my eye.
* "The Federal Government attendees are tax exempt," the contract says, adding that any "U.S. Government Employee paying with U.S. Government check or credit card will be tax exempt."
* The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa agreed to give the Ninth Circuit one free hotel room for every fifty revenue producing guest room reservations. If there were nine rooms in all, the group could cash that in for the one Bedroom Presidential Suite.
* The Hyatt also offered the special group rates paid by the Ninth Circuit for three days before and after the judicial conference, which officially runs from August 10-17. If you stayed longer than the conference, you would have to pay, but it would be less than the usual rack rate.
Two Senators, Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), who have been watching the Ninth Circuit conference closely reviewed the same contract and came up with their own observations:
Findings from 9th Circuit Document Production:
1. The maximum per diem for judges is $397 per day. Notwithstanding, there are rooms reserved at the resort which cost $650, $950 and $1500 per day. This does not mean the per diem is exceeded, as they are likely part of a larger price agreement, but it does indicate a lower average room cost for the taxpayer could be achieved at a less posh destination.
2. The conference schedule is August 13-16, but there are room reservations at the conference rate from August 10-17. We know that a golf tournament is scheduled for the weekend before the conference commences.
3. One way to reduce cost is presumably to reserve rooms with the resort view, instead of ocean view. For instance, we know there are at least 123 resort view rooms, but there are nights where those rooms are not at capacity.
4. It appears the 9th Circuit may have a long standing contract with Hyatt Resorts Hawaii. We need to understand the parameters of the contract.
5. It appears that the only nonrefundable fee would be $2500 according to the contract (p. 2). Thus, if Court had canceled the event after the Senators' initial inquiry in May, the hotel might have been able to rent the rooms to other occupants.
6. The Circuit receives complimentary units/rooms based on a certain number of rentals. (p. 3). We need to know how those complimentary units/rooms are used.
7. In previous contracts, the Circuit included a financial out as part of the agreement – 2008 for example. That was not included in the 2012 contract. We need to know why that was the case.
8. The Circuit did not provide any receipts or contract bids from other companies who initiate contract offers with the Court, so that we could determine whether a fair rate is being paid.
So, as you go about your business this weekend, remember that the judges and some staff of the Ninth Circuit are at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa.
Does your verdict change if the cost is more or less than the GSA's 2010 conference in Las Vegas?
