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Source: PRESS RELEASE, 3/21/13
For the 28th consecutive year, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) announced today that he is returning unspent funds from his congressional office budget. Congressman Coble said that unspent funds for 2012 pushed his total savings of more than $1.7 million during his congressional career.
Rep. Coble said in 2012 his office returned $74,307.29 in unspent funds from a budget of $1,359,975. “I am very proud that we operate our congressional offices the same way our constituents have to manage their own family budgets,” Rep. Coble said. “We maintain an outstanding level of constituent services, while keeping a close eye on how the money is spent. I am particularly proud that we have returned funds every year I have been in office despite a steady decline in our overall budget.”
In 2010, Rep. Coble’s allocated budget was $1,529,438. In 2012, his budget was $1,359,975. In this three year-period of declining budgets, Congressman Coble was still able to return $478,793.43 in unspent funds. Because of sequestration, the 2013 budget for Coble’s office will be $1,340,613.
Congressman Coble maintains a fulltime staff of 16, with eight employees in Washington and eight in North Carolina. In 2012, four staffers worked in his main district office in Greensboro and four in one-person offices in Asheboro, Graham, High Point and Granite Quarry. Because of redistricting, Rep. Coble lost all or portions of four counties and picked up all or portions of eight new counties. As a result, in 2013 Rep. Coble has a four-staffer office in Greensboro and one person offices in Graham, High Point and Madison. One other staffer is serving multiple counties on a rotating basis. Rep. Coble will soon announce more details on how he is serving many of the new counties in his district.
Below is a listing of the amount of unspent funds for each year that Rep. Coble has been in office:
1985 $5,176.47
1986 $7,344.00
1987 $5,000.02
1988 $17,700.00
1989 $32,661.16
1990 $17,592.26
1991 $14,002.00
1992 $32,436.24
1993 $38,000.00
1994 $19,216.18
1995 $16,114.65
1996 $123,005.79
1997 $71,544.91
1998 $37,409.22
1999 $66,106.77
2000 $41,388.13
2001 $77,469.50
2002 $55,922.55
2003 $89,682.36
2004 $71,346.04
2005 $47,248.11
2006 $89,545.43
2007 $71,787.80
2008 $67,847.42
2009 $156,663.14
2010 $217,239.69
2011 $187,246.45
2012 $74,307.29
Total $1, 751,003.58
Each member of the House receives approximately the same amount of funds and the only difference is a larger travel allowance for those representatives from states distant to Washington. “We have saved a lot of money by not abusing the congressional franking privilege,” Rep. Coble added. “We do not clog up people’s mailboxes with taxpayer-funded materials that are nothing more than self-promotional ads. If our constituents contact us, we will respond, but we won’t bother our constituents otherwise. That way of operating our office has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years, and I am proud to say that we have returned more than $1.7 million of taxpayers’ money.”
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