Attorney: Nothing improper

for printing and mailing costs. He then noted spending that amount for printing and mailing on his campaign disclosures.

Some of the invoices he turned in to the state for reimbursement list Friends for Chip Rogers, his campaign.

Rogers frequently mails and emails newsletters to constituents, and some of the invoices contain nota- tions that the money was going for that purpose. The state allows lawmakers to use expense money to keep constituents informed about issues. Rogers signed and had notarized reimbursement forms swearing the expenses were “in performance of my duties ... as a member of the General Assembly.”

Penalties in state law for willfully falsifying legislative expense reports include a fine up to $1,000 and as much as five years in prison.

William Perry, executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause Georgia, said, “The law was set up to keep campaigns away from funding something like this.”

Senate expense ac- counts are not audited, and this is not the first time payouts have been questioned.

“The problem is there has not been oversight in this expense process for a really long time,” Perry said. “That has probably contributed to a level of laziness and lack of attention to detail [by lawmakers].”

The Senate Ethics Committee last month fined Balfour $5,000 for filing inaccurate travel reports to claim expenses. Balfour was also told to repay about $350 to the state for the lapses.

Balfour was accused of billing the state for mileage while out of town on lobbyist-funded trips and failing to create a subcommittee to audit all