Tennessee lawmakers reimburse state for trips

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Two lawmakers have reimbursed the state for trips they took to legislative conferences.

WTVF-TV (https://bit.ly/1JkYXQk) reported that Murfreesboro Sen. Bill Ketron and Knoxville Rep. Ryan Haynes repaid the money after finding out that the trips were charged to both taxpayers and their campaigns. The station reports Ketron reimbursed the state $17,553 for six trips in the last six years and Haynes reimbursed the state $4,775 for three trips in the last four years.

Ketron and Haynes both told the station that they were unaware that the trips had been double-billed and wrote a check to cover the expenses as soon as they found out about it.

“I was horrified when I received your email,” Ketron told WTVF.

“My legislative assistant was filling out the form for reimbursement from the state and my treasurer was just making the payments coming from my credit card statement,” he said, and they weren’t communicating with each other.

He said it was an oversight and he should have been “more diligent” in keeping tabs on how the expenses were paid.

Haynes had similar reaction to finding out that his trips were paid for out of two accounts.

“The instant I found about it in early March I went to the state and said ’Hey, I’ve got to pay this back, This was an error,’” he said.

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Information from: WTVF-TV, https://www.newschannel5.com