When I covered my first congressional race 30 years ago, the incumbent mailed out surveys and newsletters to constituents at taxpayers’ expense. But the mailings at least looked as if they were related to official duties. They were drab and issue-oriented.
Flash forward to today, and mailings sent under the free congressional franking privilege by some incumbents often look and read more like campaign fliers than government communication.
But there’s one big difference between a campaign mailing and a Capitol one. In the Capitol version, in the upper right-hand corner, where a stamp or postal permit number usually would be required, instead appears the signature of the member of Congress. This means the letter is mailed at taxpayers’ expense. Taxpayers pick up the cost of production and printing, too.
Not all members of Congress use the franking privilege as much as they could. In North Texas, for example, three members spent small amounts, according to a study of congressional office spending by the Sunlight Foundation:
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, spent about $25,000 last year on mass mailings to his 6th Congressional District. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, spent $8,000 in the 12th District. And Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, spent $10,000. Some, like Granger, send a steady stream of e-mails to constituents instead.
Among House members from North Texas, the most money was spent last year by Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, who asked taxpayers to pay $122,000 in mailing costs. Almost half of that came in the final three months of 2011 after Marchant learned that he would have an opponent in the Republican primary, now set for May 29, 2012.
The taxpayer-funded mass mailings continued until the legal cutoff date 90 days before a primary.
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His opponent, former TV news reporter and small-business owner Grant Stinchfield, said he was stung by them. “The bottom line is the system is rigged for incumbents,” Stinchfield said. “When they’re allowed to send out all that mail on your dime, you and I are the ones that ultimately lose.”
There’s nothing illegal about this.
Congress sets the rules, and in the House, congressional staffers review each mailing to make sure regulations are obeyed. But in the mind of some congressional reformers, the bar for approval has slipped. And nobody disputes that some members of both parties flout the rules.
“The franking privilege is an abuse that is well-protected in Congress, even with the rules that regulate it,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen in Washington, D.C.
The Watchdog tried last to interview Marchant, his congressional press secretary, his campaign staff and his political consultant, Bryan Eppstein. But no one would talk to me.
I looked at eight mailings sent by Marchant’s Capitol office since October. Taken as a whole, the mailings are targeted specifically at the concerns of veterans and seniors.
One flier asks, “Are you a senior having trouble with Medicare or Social Security? Are you a veteran trying to attain earned benefits?”
A December mailing begins, “Looking Out for Texas Seniors.”
An October mailing starts, “Congressman Kenny Marchant invites you to Veterans Fair 2011.”
Other mailers touch on hot-button issues such as illegal immigration and the economy. A December mailer called “Lower Taxes/Less Spending/More Jobs” is six pages and includes three pictures of Marchant, one of Ronald Reagan and a survey at the end. As required, each of Marchant’s mailings carries this small-print message: “PUBLIC DOCUMENT/OFFICIAL BUSINESS. This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.”
Then, in language not required, several of his mailings add: “It was designed by the office of Congressman Marchant and printed at a local business in the great state of Texas.”
Members of Congress who abuse the franking privilege are forced to pay for the mailings out of their own personal funds, said a spokeswoman for the Committee on House Administration.
She said she couldn’t recall the last time that happened. Because committee staffers vet mailings in a “bipartisan process,” she said, violations are rare. They are sometimes found if complaints are filed. Stinchfield hasn’t filed one.
Jim Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University, said the debate over franking abuses has gone on too long: “We don’t need the franking privilege anymore. You can communicate with as many people as you want for free on the Internet.”
Note: Marchant’s District 24 includes parts of Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Irving, Carrollton, Coppell, Hebron, Addison, Farmers Branch and northwest Dallas.
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