An ethics committee Friday cleared Rep. Steve King of a violation in connection with travel expenses shortly after he apologized to his colleagues and reimbursed the state in a related matter.
The Grand Junction Republican told the House that in answering the ethics complaint filed against him by Colorado Ethics Watch, he found an issue that hadn’t been raised: He overcharged taxpayers for a rental car.
He reimbursed the state $914.53.
“As is the case with each of you, my integrity means everything to me,” King said, struggling to keep his emotions in check.
“I am angry at myself for disappointing the people I am here to serve, and even more than that, I realize my error could reflect badly on the House of Representatives.”
Ethics Watch alleged King double- dipped, charging the state for expenses he was billing to his campaign committee.
King earlier told the ethics committee it wasn’t double-dipping because he used his state reimbursement check to pay back his campaign.
Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, said she didn’t think an ethics violation occurred because King reimbursed his campaign last spring “before there was a whiff of trouble.”
But Levy said she found King’s financial practices “borderline,” including billing for gas and getting loans from his campaign.
The other four committee members agreed the formal letter to King clearing him of the ethics violation should refer to those financial issues.
Levy also said she was troubled that taxpayers footed the bill for a rental car because King’s vehicle was in the shop for a while last spring. She said that’s not the state’s obligation.
King said he believed he had permission from the legislative staff to rent the vehicle.
He said he discovered this year, while providing documents to the ethics committee, that he had overcharged the state for the rental. He said he didn’t have the paperwork with him when he turned in his expenses and had used the figure quoted by the agency. The cost turned out to be lower because he waived the rental company’s car insurance.
After the hearing, Luis Toro, the director of Ethics Watch, said he wasn’t surprised the complaint was dismissed because “that’s always the likelihood when House members investigate each other.”
“It’s peculiar for the committee to say that’s not the standard of conduct we expect of House members, but it’s not an ethical violation,” he said.
“That said, if it sends a message in the future this shouldn’t happen, that’s a great resolution.”
