JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt has started flying on state planes at taxpayer expense _ something he shunned for his first three years in office, favoring private charters paid for with campaign money. Blunt began regularly boarding state planes for official business after he announced Jan. 22 that he would not seek re-election this year. He was the most frequent passenger on state planes soon after his announcement, according to flight records provided to The Associated Press in response to an open-records request. The records show Blunt embarked on five days of multi-stop flyarounds on state aircraft from Jan. 31 through the end of February at a cost of $9,832.50. Since then, Blunt has continued to use state planes, though details on the cost weren't immediately available Wednesday. By comparison, Blunt's campaign spent more than $94,000 on private airplane flights during the final three months of 2007, according to finance reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Blunt spokesman Nanci Gonder said the governor started using state planes because he is no longer a political candidate. "We had erred on the side of caution, so there would be no appearance the state plane was being used for political purposes," Gonder said. Because Blunt is no longer a candidate, that appearance is gone, she added. Democrats had criticized Blunt for paying for flights with campaign funds, because campaign finance reports do not require details on when the flights were taken, where they went or who rode along. All of those details are tracked when state aircraft are used. Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti remained skeptical of the reason for the switch. "As a lame-duck governor, it looks like Gov. Blunt doesn't have lobbyists to fly him around any more," Cardetti said. The appearance of misusing state property for political purposes was not the only reason Blunt's office cited in March 2005 when it first explained to the AP why he was opting for private planes. "The governor doesn't believe it's appropriate to use the state plane, given the state's current fiscal situation," Blunt spokesman Spence Jackson said at the time. Missouri's finances have improved since then, although there is renewed concern about the national economy faltering. State law allows elected officials to use campaign funds for official business such as travel. Officials do not have to be running for re-election to tap into a campaign account for business purposes, said Joe Carroll, the campaign finance director at the Missouri Ethics Commission.
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