Government reformers called for a crackdown on the use of state credit cards by the governor’s office, after a host of his aides have used their state cards for expensive meals and other questionable expenses.

“If the governor is asking New Yorkers to sacrifice because of the budget situation, I think that should mean him and his staff as well,” said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “The days of the high-flying executive staff should be over.”

Susan Lerner, executive director of the New York chapter of Common Cause, said the governor’s office should clean up its act regardless of the fiscal condition of the state, saying misuse of the cards creates “a sense of entitlement.”

According to state controller’s office spokesman Dennis Tompkins, the state credit cards are for “legitimate state travel incurred by state employees. The state does not have an expense account.”

A Paterson insider said many staffers early on were given cards but not instructed on the rules of using them.

In some cases, aides used their cards for personal meals. In others, they picked up the tab for others. Some also used them for items not related to travel.

“The charges in question represent a tiny percentage of our office’s expense spending,” he said. “The administration is taking steps to rectify any inappropriate charges.”

(Source: NY Daily News)