Kay Urges Hoffman to Reimburse the State

May 30, 2008…State Representative candidate Dwight Kay is calling on his opponent to reimburse the state for expenses incurred for the printing and mailing of his recent campaign advertisement.

This week, voters in the 112th District are receiving in their mailboxes a campaign brochure sent out by Jay Hoffman at taxpayers’ expense.  The brochure tout’s local transportation projects that were funded by the state’s taxpayers. The brochure was mailed out to more than 35,000 residents and cost taxpayers an estimated $14,000.

“When families are sacrificing to pay for gas and food, shouldn’t Mr. Hoffman be concerned about frivolously spending taxpayer dollars?” said Kay.  “The state can’t afford this kind of wasteful spending.  At a time when the state can’t afford to get promised monies to local school districts, or pay healthcare providers in a timely manner, why is political self-promotion a priority?  Why couldn’t this $14,000 been saved to fund the teachers’ pensions, or just gone to pay down some of the state’s debt?”

Kay says “end of session” mailers are unfortunately typical of the legislature in Springfield.  Kay suggests that brochures touting elected officials’ legislative records should be paid for by the campaigns, and not the taxpayers.

“This is exactly the kind of issue that should be addressed in the type of far-reaching ethics reform legislation that should be considered in Springfield,” said Kay.

Kay said that his opponent should have exercised better judgment about how to pay for this type of mailing, especially since Hoffman has used his connections to Governor Blagojevich to amass a campaign warchest of more than $1 million for this November’s election.

“The state is broke, I urge Jay Hoffman to pay for his own political advertising, not make the taxpayers foot the bill.  Jay should reimburse the state for all expenses incurred.  Taxpayers have paid more than enough for the wasteful government spending in Springfield.”