Bayh will repay taxpayer money spent on Indy hotel
Evan Bayh will repay taxpayers for expenditures related to five overnight hotel stays in Indianapolis during his time in the Senate.
Bayh’s campaign acknowledged that reimbursements the former senator received for those nights in 2009 were prohibited by Senate rules. Bayh, who is now seeking his old seat, will personally repay $737, his campaign spokesman Ben Ray told IndyStar on Friday.
The decision to return the money came after questions from Politico, which reported Thursday night that Bayh spent taxpayer money to stay at Indianapolis hotels for 14 nights in 2009, even though he owns a condo on the city's north side. Bayh charged more than $2,000 in travel and lodging expenses to his official account, Politico reported.
Ray said Bayh is returning only the portion charged during the August recess, when Senate rules ban the use of official funds within 35 miles of a senator's in-state residence. The campaign contends that charges for the other nine nights were allowed.
Read more: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/04/bayh-repay-taxpayer-money-spent-indy-hotels/93286936/