Amid economic crisis, Polis hosts taxpayer-funded staff retreat

The same week President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill into law, Congressman Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat, took 18 of his staffers on a taxpayer-funded retreat to the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. Polis is the only member of Colorado's nine-member congressional delegation to host a retreat thus far this year.

Fellow Democrat Rep. John Salazar won't be hosting a retreat this year, nor will Republican Congressmen Mike Coffman and Doug Lamborn. Similarly, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall have no plans for retreats this year.

“We’re too busy to schedule one right now,” said Tyler Houlton, Coffman’s press secretary.

The remaining three Democrat members of Colorado's House delegation, including Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, and Betsy Markey, say they don’t plan to have their retreats until August when Congress is out of session.

“We are still hiring all of our staff,” said Markey’s district director Ken Bennett, who added that the last time Markey was in town she did bring three staffers with her.

Republican Congressmen Mike Coffman and Doug Lamborn and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, both Democrats, have no plans for a retreat this year.

According to Polis spokeswoman Lara Cottingham, taxpayers funded plane tickets for 10 of his D.C. staffers, and hotel rooms for seven of them. According to Orbitz.com, a travel Web site, plane tickets from D.C. to Denver can cost anywhere from $300 to $500. The seven staffers who stayed in shared hotel rooms booked at the Boulder Marriot for $100 per night for the weekend retreat, though Cottingham did not respond to Face The State's request for the number of rooms.

Cottingham told Face The State via e-mail, the airfare and hotels were purchased at a “reduced government rate,” and the total cost of the trip has not been calculated. A staffer in the congressional travel office said not all representatives book their trips through the office, but that all representatives do have to report the total cost of any trips they or their staff take on a quarterly basis. Based on the information Cottingham provided, however, the cost of the trip could have ranged anywhere between $4,000 to $6,000, conservatively. This figure does not include the cost of rental cars, food, or per diem compensation for staff members.

“With the economy in the state it is, I have to ask why Mr. Polis seems to be the only Colorado Representative to feel the need to have a staff retreat at this time?” questioned Brad Beck, a Boulder businessman and one of Polis’ constituents.

Polis made no secret of the retreat and filmed part of it for his "Freshman Year" feature on CNN. In the video, Polis shows his staff enjoying dinner at his house, and as they all prepare to partake in a Yoga class. He also wrote about it through regular status updates on Twitter, the online social network that allows people to provide short status updates. On Feb. 22, Polis wrote, “just finished our staff retreat, we're ready to move our legislative agenda into high gear!”

In a blog posted on CNN.com, Polis reflected on the stimulus bill, discussing how exciting it was to be in Denver for the bill's signing, and also reflecting, "I was amazed at the misinformation people had received about what was in the bill. Several constituents were somehow under the impression that it raised taxes, when it actually includes more than $300 billion in tax cuts!"

While recent estimates vary, the cost of the legislation to the average family of four will be at least $10,000 and up to $100,000 in additional tax obligations. Estimates vary due to disagreements over the cost of interest that will result from the legislation.