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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Dayton on airplane use: ‘I think we handled it properly’

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DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is taking issue with media stories that proclaimed he “broke the law” when a campaign aide flew with him on the state airplane.

Legislative Auditor James Nobles issued a report Thursday that looked at the governor’s airplane use, after questions were raised by a conservative group about three trips in the fall of 2012. The report concluded that there is no consistent standard currently in place for determining if trips that include political events are lawful, and stressed the need for greater clarity in state statutes. But it also said the October 2012 trip that included a campaign official was a violation of state law.

Dayton didn’t question the report, just the amount of attention others have paid to a single item.

“One time, one campaign employee was on a trip, two-thirds of which was paid for by the campaign,” he said. “It was a technical violation of the state law. We acknowledged that in the report, and we said it was in error, and it won’t happen again.”

Dayton told reporters today that his campaign reimbursed the state for part of that trip. He said such reimbursements can save the state money on trips that combine official business and political events.  He said he did what he thought was the right thing to do.

“If the Legislature wants to pass a law that says it should be handled differently, we’ll certainly follow that,” Dayton said. “But in the absence of clear direction, we’ve done what we’ve seen other political administrations do for years.”

The airplane matter was one part of a larger, regularly-scheduled financial audit of the governor’s office. Dayton said the audit in its entirety shows his office is operating properly, lawfully and efficiently.