Hastert's taxpayer-financed office
What we found: Now a lobbyist, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has had a taxpayer-financed office in west suburban Yorkville since he resigned from Congress in November 2007. Public money paid for a staff of three, a sport utility vehicle and an array of perks, with costs climbing to $997,076 by the end of last year. The 68-year-old Republican lost the speaker's gavel after Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007. Still, a little-known federal law allows ex-speakers to maintain publicly funded offices for up to five years to "facilitate the administration, settlement and conclusion of matters" related to a former speaker's tenure in the House. His three employees, all former staffers, earned from $101,000 to $138,551 a year.
What's happened since: Spending has shot past the million-dollar mark -- and the meter still is running -- but there have been cuts. The tab through March 31: $1,118,697. But Hastert's office "downsized" when secretary Tom Jarman, who had earned $116,365 a year, left June 30, said Brad Hahn, a Hastert spokesman. And he said the office did not renew a $860-a-month lease for its 2008 GMC Yukon when the contract lapsed in March. Hahn said a closing date for the office has not been set.
--Katherine Skiba
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