Don Balfour
News Enterprise reporter Elizabeth Weinstein contributed research to this Atlanta Unfiltered report on Sen. Don Balfour’s travel reimbursements, campaign expenses and gift’s he accepted from lobbyists. Balfour subsequently faced ethics complaints that he had billed the state for mileage expenses to the Capitol at times he was out of town on lobbyist funded trips. The report appeared on Atlanta Unfiltered on Feb. 7, 2012.
By Jim Walls (Atlanta Unfiltered)
Who says public service has to be a sacrifice? Georgia legislators love to gripe about their crappy salaries, but Sen. Don Balfour last year knocked down more than $100,000 in publicly disclosed compensation, lobbyists’ gifts and other perks. He pocketed nearly $30,000 in per diem and $4,680 for his mileage commuting from Snellville to the Capitol; accepted lobbyists’ gifts worth more than $13,000; and spent $29,000-plus from his campaign account to rent an Atlanta condo year-round. Read the full story, here.
