"SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Agencies across state government spent tens of millions of dollars last year on office furniture, new vehicles and conferences, drawing the ire of state lawmakers who used a Wednesday hearing to criticize such spending as California grapples with an ongoing fiscal crisis.
The spending was compiled by the staff of an Assembly committee and showed, for example, that the state Department of Transportation spent more than $13 million buying non-emergency vehicles in the first half of 2009. The Department of Education spent nearly $1 million on meetings at a hotel.
Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, questioned the tens of thousands of dollars spent on office chairs made by the Prison Industry Authority.
'We're using free labor, but it seems like I could buy it cheaper from Office Depot,' he said.
Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, said the expenditures look out of place when lawmakers asked Californians last year to pay higher taxes and vehicle license fees."