There is "substantial cause" to believe state Sen. Don Balfour violated Senate rules regarding travel and per diem payments, the Senate Ethics Committee ruled Friday and ordered that negotiations begin on a possible settlement.
The committee, after meeting in private for more than three hours, said if no settlement is reached, the committee would hold public hearings. It is the first time since 1998 that the Ethics Committee has moved to punish a member of the Senate, according to Sen. George Hooks, D-Americus. Hooks, who is on the ethics panel, is the chamber's longest-serving member.
Balfour, the powerful chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, is accused of billing the state for mileage while out of town on lobbyist-funded trips. Balfour previously said he reimbursed the state for the "minor mistakes" and filed corrected paperwork.
Balfour, who was not at the Capitol on Friday, issued a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I still have not been allowed to go before the committee and defend myself," Balfour said. "When I do, I am confident the committee will understand that a senator who gave up thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded pension benefits had no intention of doing anything wrong in a matter of a few hundred dollars."
Balfour, R-Snellville, an executive with Atlanta-based Waffle House, said he voluntarily gave up his right to a legislative pension.
He has acknowledged mistakes in filing reimbursement claims and in March returned nearly $800 to the state based on a couple of instances. A further analysis by the AJC, however, found eight additional dates where Balfour claimed reimbursement on days lobbyists reported buying him meals or lodging in other cities. Balfour also amended those reports. Per diem is a daily amount that legislators get when they're doing business when the Legislature is not in session.
The Rules Committee decides which bills make it to the Senate floor, and as chairman, Balfour has great power to influence those decisions.
Last week, Balfour signed paperwork to run for re-election to District 9. He has two Republican primary opponents in the July 31 primary. Minutes after qualifying for re-election, Balfour signed a pledge to support a $100 cap on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and later said he would co-sponsor legislation to create the cap.
The Senate Ethics Committee's action came after at least two complaints were filed against Balfour. One was by a Gwinnett County college student; the other by Debbie Dooley, an organizer of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots.
The committee's work is shrouded in secrecy, and members will not even acknowledge the existence of a complaint unless it finds reasonable grounds to believe a violation occurred. On Friday, the committee said it had initiated its own investigation into Balfour and formed its own complaint. The committee would not acknowledge the complaints filed by Dooley and the student.
Under Senate rules, the public meetings would be akin to a trial with Balfour allowed to present a defense. Senate rules give no guidance on what a negotiated settlement might involve, although anything from public censure to a fine to an agreement to resign his chairmanship are possibilities. Any settlement would be made public, however. There is no timetable for the committee to take its next step.
Government watchdog groups Tea Party Patriots and Common Cause Georgia applauded the committee's move and said they would be following its progress closely.
"There hasn’t been a lot of activities like this or actions like this in the past, so we’re on kind of unknown ground," Common Cause executive director William Perry said. "But the fact that the committee has come out today and said there was a violation and that they’re moving forward is a very big step."
Dooley said it was a good first step but said Senate leaders should not wait for the Ethics Committee to act. She called on members of the Committee on Assignments, which names committee chairmen, to strip Balfour of his role pending the outcome of the ethics case.
"This will help restore some of the confidence in the process," Dooley said of Friday's action. "Obviously, they're not going to just give him a slap on the wrist."
Efforts to reach Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, who chairs the Committee on Assignments, were unsuccessful Friday.
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