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Constituent Communication or Incumbent Protection?

Rog Cogswell / Creative Commons

Government watchdog groups say some lawmakers are using taxpayer dollars to boost their own reelection campaigns. But many Virginia lawmakers say they’re merely communicating with their constituents back home.

Lawmakers do a lot more than just cast votes. Each of the nation’s 435 lawmakers basically runs their own company. They’re each allocated roughly $1.4 million annually that they can use on staff, travel, equipment upgrades and for communicating with their constituents.

During this two-year session of Congress, five Virginia lawmakers spent more than six figures worth of taxpayer dollars on those mass communications, commonly referred to as franked mail. But that doesn’t mean they always want to talk to reporters about that spending.  

“Give it to my comms guy. I don’t know.” That’s how Central Virginia Republican Dave Brat, a member of the fiscally conservative Freedom Caucus, initially responded when asked about his spending. At $210,000, he spent more than any other Virginia Republican on those mass mailings this session, including on some large color flyers that watchdogs say look a lot like campaign material.

When asked about criticism that he and others are wasting taxpayer dollars, Brat defended his use of his budget. “Well, no, not if you’re communicating policy and important stuff back to your district. Right? That’s what we do,” Brat said.

The franking privilege dates back to 1775 and it enables lawmakers to use their signature instead of paying for a stamp to communicate with the people they represent. Melanie Sloan with American Oversight, a government accountability group, says taxpayer funded mail made more sense in the 1700's than it does now. “The goals behind it are good. It has long been subject to abuse in that it gives members of Congress a leg up in their campaigns against opponents because it’s taxpayer funded mailers going to every home in the district,” Sloan said.

But nowadays lawmakers like Brat and others are using the privilege to pay for things like online polls, to conduct telephone town halls, radio and TV announcements and even to buy Facebook likes. Sloan says it smells fishy.  “You know, I think it’s a little disingenuous…. They should be forming their own opinion about whether they like it or not and this is just attempting to sway people to believe that something’s more popular and more important than it may otherwise be seen, it may otherwise actually be.”

At just under $220,000, Northern Virginia Democrat Gerry Connolly spent the most of any Virginia lawmaker using the privilege. He says the system has good checks in place because a bipartisan group of lawmakers have to sign off on the communications. “I mean there are pretty strict rules about what you can put in a printed piece of material," Connolly argued. "They are subject to review and censorship and you can’t ignore that or else it’s at your own personal expense.”

There are Congressionally-imposed restrictions on content.  Mailings cannot be used for campaigns or political parties, autobiographical information or holiday greetings. And House members cannot send mass mailings within 90 days of a primary or election.

In Virginia’s most hotly watched House district, Northern Virginia Republican Barbara Comstock spent more than $135,000 on mass mailings and others electronic forms of communication. “Well, it is something that’s within our budget and it’s a way of informing our constituents,” Comstock said.

While critics say the glossy mailings look a lot like campaign material, Comstock defends them as an important way to reach voters. "Certainly like with certain populations and seniors and others who may not have email, we periodically do a broad newsletter that addresses kind of all of the issues of the district.”

Click here for spending totals for all of Virginia's Representatives

As part of a four-trillion dollar federal budget, $135,000 isn’t that much.  But Newport News-area Democrat Bobby Scott spent just under $7,000. And in Virginia Beach, first term Republican Scott Taylor dropped just over $22,000. Still, Taylor isn’t going to criticize his colleagues for spending more than nine times what he spent. "No, I’m not knocking anybody,” Taylor said.

Watchdog groups say that’s a part of the problem too: That lawmakers in both parties continue the system of unlimited taxpayer funded mailers even if they know overhauling the practice could save taxpayers millions of dollars annually.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.