Campaign funds for clothes, nannies?

Among other legislators who bought clothes with campaign funds were Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, $443 for legislative shirts; Hutchings, $61 in dress shirts from Mervyn's and $120 for shirts; Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, $149 for unspecified clothing; and Rep. Bud Bowman, R-Cedar City, $49 for shirts.

Some used campaign money to rent clothing. Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, spent $72 to rent a tuxedo, and Rep. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, spent $48 to do the same.

Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, had a long list of interesting campaign expenditures, including some big money for baby-sitting, attending sports events and maybe helping relatives.

Madsen paid his younger brother, Michael, more than $12,000 to run his last campaign. Madsen also spent $4,540 on baby-sitters and nannies. And he spent $97 for membership in and neckties produced by Accuracy in Media, a conservative media watchdog group.

"I don't have a lot of personal wealth," Madsen said. "And when my wife and I decided to get into public service, we decided that we would not use our limited personal funds to pay for items related to campaigning and serving."

Madsen's four young children are home-schooled and were regularly seen around the Senate during the 2007 session, dressed up in little suits or dresses. "We bring them with us when we can, but we can't always do that." When he and his wife have to attend what he considers a legislative function, he hires baby-sitters or nannies to take care of his children.

He also spent $79 for family meals and parking for family events such as legislative nights at the theater, planetarium and museums. His campaign also spent $589 on a digital camera.

Madsen was not alone on some of those types of spending. For example, legislators spent at least $22,000 on cameras, TVs and computers that could be used for both campaign and personal use.

They spent at least $26,750 to put relatives on payrolls. They paid at least $13,500 to join or pay dues to a variety of political and civic groups, from the National Rifle Association to local chambers of commerce. They spent $94,000 in donations to charities ranging from schools to churches, Boy Scouts and the Red Cross.

Of note, legislators used at least $30,000 in their campaign money to donate to the Legislature's "Third House," which provides meals and snacks for them during their session. They also spent at least $33,000 for gifts. They also spent to give away $550,800 to fellow politicians and party groups.

For example, Rep. Neal Hansen, D-Ogden, gave $1,404 from his campaign funds to the county auditor/surveyor campaign of his wife, Debbie. She lost the race by a small margin.

Parting gifts