By Chris Jamele
Buffalo, NY – Spending by lawmakers is an issue gaining notice with voters, and three of Western New York's most prominent officials show very different approaches to that spending.
The Buffalo News reports that Republican Representative Chris Lee used a quarter of a million taxpayer dollars in mailings to his constituents that were largely self-promoting. The largest financial payout for Democratic Representative Brian Higgins was for his staff, spending three hundred thousand dollars more than Lee or fellow Democrat Louise Slaughter. Slaughter spent the least from her office, using less that eighty percent of the taxpayer funded budget allowed her.
Most lawmakers were found to spend closer to ninety-five percent of the money allotted to them.