Money intended for vets groups in MN pays a political appointee
When taxpayers in Minnesota chose to pay the $30 required to buy a license plate with the message "Support Our Troops," they probably never imagined that some of the money would be diverted by state officials to pay the salary of one of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's political appointees.
But that's exactly what happened. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:
Last year $30,000 from the license-plate fund was used to pay a portion of Buckley's salary. Buckley worked in Pawlenty's office as a $92,000 a year special adviser on faith and community services.
During budget hearings on Pawlenty's office budget this week, Sens. Steve Murphy, Don Betzold and other legislators were furious over what they saw as a siphoning off of the money and a deception to those who bought the plates thinking they were directly helping veterans organizations.
By state law, money from the plates is split between the Department of Military Affairs for family members of deployed service members and the Department of Veterans Affairs for grants for homeless and needy veterans.
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