Lunch is on the taxpayer: Use of state-issued credit card scrutinized – By Joe Dwinell Wednesday (bostonherald.com) / June 20 2018
The Massachusetts Cultural Council is defending its charges of $3,700 in meals at upscale Davio’s on a state-issued credit card, insisting they were “lawful and properly authorized” — and not subject to strict Baker administration guidelines on spending taxpayer money.
The Baker administration rules do not allow procurement “P-cards” to be used for “meals, snacks or coffee.” Although the council uses a state card, it does not fall under the direct authority of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, an A&F spokeswoman said.
Council spokesman Greg Liakos said in a statement: “All Mass Cultural Council expenditures support its mission as an independent state agency to expand access, excellence, education, and diversity in the nonprofit arts, sciences, and humanities.”
He added “all agency expenditures are lawful” and “properly authorized.”
The council, a quasi-state agency which issues $20 million in grants for the arts while co-managing a $10 million cultural facility fund, ran up the bills at the pricey restaurant in 35 separate charges ranging widely from $2.41 to $247 over the past 12 months. In a single week in early March, the agency charged $160.59 on each of four separate days.
The takeout orders were mostly for lunch meetings with staff and volunteers during “expert panels to review grant applications,” Liakos said. Council officials have yet to divulge what menu items were ordered.
Items on Davio’s takeout menu range from a $10 macaroni and cheese to a $17 tuna tartare and a $31 Maine lobster roll.
Liakos said he could not explain the smaller bills for $2.41, $4, $6.15 or $7.49.
But he dismissed the idea that the agency has to defend buying lunch.
“What’s the matter with Davio’s? It’s Davio’s takeout,” Liakos told the Herald. “This is the best you can do? For goodness sake, we’re a $20 million agency and you’re talking about sandwiches.”
A good government watchdog said the practice of routinely using state funds to buy lunch for workers is alarming.
“This raises a lot of questions,” said the Pioneer Institute’s Greg Sullivan, a former state inspector general. “There are clear rules when it comes to buying lunch. It’s not right for taxpayers to pick up this tab.”
State policy, established by then-Secretary of Administration and Finance Kristen Lepore in 2016, specifically holds that “P-cards shall not be used for the following: Cost of meals, snacks, or coffee.”
The Bank of America card should be used as “payment of last resort,” the A&F rules stress.
“To protect taxpayer dollars and limit spending, the Baker-Polito Administration updated credit card policy use and procedures to restrict the number of cards in circulation and limit their use,” A&F spokeswoman Julie Mehegan added in a statement.
The Herald reviewed P-card spending by the Cultural Council and numerous other state agencies for a report published last Sunday, using data provided by the state comptroller’s office, which manages the bills. Sullivan said the comptroller’s goal to post all state P-card purchases online would help “enforce” policy and boost “transparency.”
“When a state employee with a state credit card is in the line at Davio’s,” Sullivan added, “the guy right behind him is paying for that expensive takeout, too.”
In case of emergency, pull out plastic
While questions have been raised about the use of some state-issued credit cards, two state agencies put their P-cards to work to help people during emergencies in the past year:
• The state police spent $24,057 to transport troopers to Puerto Rico “to assist island residents and first responders with hurricane relief efforts,” agency spokesman David Procopio said, and to help “preserve law and order.”
• The Massachusetts Military Division spent roughly $40,000 for takeout from Spinelli’s Ravioli in East Boston for boxed lunches for National Guard soldiers on active duty supporting state emergencies. “The Guard uses Spinelli’s … because of the low cost and great support,” said Felix Browne, communications director for the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
