Taxpayers face leap in governor's travel costs
The taxpayer cost of providing State Police security for Governor Mitt Romney's out-of-state trips increased by more than 60 percent in the last year, as he tested the waters for a run for president, according to records released to the Globe.
Travel, lodging, and meals for state troopers accompanying Romney cost $103,365 for the last 11 months, up from $63,874 that the security details cost during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2005, according to the records.
In fiscal 2005, which ended June 30, 2005, Romney took 61 out-of-state trips that entailed security expenses. In the first 11 months of fiscal 2006, which ends June 30, Romney took 56 out-of-state trips with security. The security costs for the trips range from $400 to as much $6,826.
The State Police released the costs under a public records request by the Globe, but refused to provide details of the out-of-state travel, including destinations, the purposes of the trips, or the number of troopers on the trips, saying that making that information public would compromise security. The troopers are not paid overtime during the trips .
Romney's office defended the use of taxpayers' money for the governor's out-of-state security, saying yesterday that the longstanding policy of having troopers accompany a governor is similar to that used in other states and by the president and some federal officeholders. But his chief spokesman also said that Romney's staff would reevaluate whether the governor should use campaign funds to pay for the State Police security on political trips.
``It is our understanding that all of the states and the federal government treat security expenses for elected officials in the same way: Neither political nor personal travel expenses are reimbursed. We will verify this to consider whether the Massachusetts policy should be reevaluated," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said.
He pointed out that Romney, who does not accept a salary as governor, pays for his personal and political travel. The state pays for travel costs on government-related trips.
There is no state law mandating security for the governor. Yesterday, Colonel Mark Delaney, the superintendent of the State Police, said the State Police ``believe it is necessary to provide security for the governor, and this policy has been in effect for many years."
``I want to make it crystal clear that at no time has the governor requested security for himself," Delaney said in a statement. ``All 50 states plus American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico provide a protective detail for their governor. . . . The governor's security detail accompanies him whether he is at the State House signing bills, on vacation with his family, or traveling out of state on political business."
A summary of his out-of-state travel schedule released by Romney's office showed that the governor has logged at least 45 visits to 20 states in 2006, including a three-state swing last weekend.
In 2006, Romney has visited 11 of those states more than once, including five visits each to New York, Utah, Michigan, and New Hampshire and four to Iowa, according to the summary, which was released in response to a request by the Globe. In addition, Romney has made seven trips to Washington, D.C., on official or political business, and has traveled to four countries in an official or ceremonial capacity.
This year, Romney has traveled nearly every week, often for days at a time.
Except for several official business trips, Romney's trips are designed to raise money for his political action committee and to support Republican candidates. He also makes appearances as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a position that he has used to raise his profile and influence in GOP circles.
Just last weekend, Romney was in Iowa and Idaho, a featured speaker at Republican political conventions. He gave a talk Friday on healthcare to a policy forum in Colorado. He is due in South Carolina tomorrow and Friday to help raise funds for local Republican candidates.
Romney's political trips have stirred criticism in Massachusetts from Democrats who complain he has been absent.
Michael S. Dukakis, the last Massachusetts governor who ran for president, criticized the use of taxpayers' money to provide security details for Romney's trips. He said such a cost should be borne by a candidate's political committee. ``I never traveled with a trooper," insisted Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee who spent much of 1987 and well into 1988 campaigning across America before he was given Secret Service protection. ``It always seemed to me that the troopers should be out catching criminals, not holding my coat."
A spokeswoman for Common Cause, the national public interest group that monitors government and political ethics, said the criterion for deciding who pays for the out-of-state trips should be whether Romney is working for the public interest or seeking to promote his political future.
``The people of Massachusetts are essentially funding his presidential campaign, whether they like it or not," said Mary Boyle, Common Cause's press secretary in its Washington, D.C., headquarters.
A Globe analysis of Romney's schedule shows that, since Jan. 1, the governor has spent 33 full weekdays on the road, parts of 18 other weekdays traveling or out of state, and 29 weekend days or holidays outside Massachusetts.
Romney has vacation homes in Utah and New Hampshire, and a total of three of his 10 visits to those states were purely personal in nature, according to his office.
Utah has emerged as the leading source of funds for his Commonwealth Political Action Committee, and New Hampshire is the site of the first primary in the presidential nominating contest. Iowa is the home of the first caucuses in the nominating process, and Michigan, where Romney grew up, is both a major source of Commonwealth PAC funds and a potentially crucial state if Romney enters the GOP presidential race.
To read more of the Globe's political coverage, go to boston.com/politics. Contact the Globe's political staff at masspolitics@globe.com. 
