Expenses: Palin v. Murkowski; UPDATED: AP Story and Mr. Bill's Press Conference

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UPDATE by VO: Mr. Nine Percent is blogging that Palin will have a press conference about the expense issues this week. Glad to see some pushback from the Guv against the smear campaign.

UPDATE BY JR: Will Mr. Nine Percent cut up the audio from this one too?

UPDATE by Ramrocks:

The AP reports on Gov. Palin's release of the comparison of her expenses to Murkowski and Knowles:

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin's office on Monday defended the governor's practice of collecting per diem from the state while living at her home in Wasilla, saying she was costing the state a lot less than her predecessor.

Spokesman Bill McAllister held a press conference comparing Palin's expenses with those of fellow Republican, former Gov. Frank Murkowski.

During her first two years in office, Palin charged the state almost $18,000 for meal allowances while living in Wasilla and commuting 40 miles to her office in Anchorage. But McAllister said Palin spent $100,000 less than Murkowski spent living in the governor's mansion in Juneau, the state capital, during his last two years in office.

"It's a different kind of expense. It hasn't been calculated this way before because previous governors have not spent that much time away from the mansion. But the fact of the matter is in terms of the amount of money, she is charging the state much less," McAllister said.

Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, said the governor's staff was comparing "the $17,000 apple to the $100,000 orange."

"First I want to see how that $100,000 adds up and secondly, I guess I'm skeptical about whether she would be living in the mansion if she weren't able to collect per diem at home," Elton said.

"Yes, $17,000 is less than $100,000 but $17,000 is a lot higher than zero. And if she's going to work out of her home in Wasilla, the choice is between zero and $17,000 and not $17,000 and $100,000."

Actually, no, Kim. It doesn't. As I noted in my earlier post on per diems, Gov. Palin could not have stayed at the mansion all of those days because it was undergoing extensive renovations. She saved the state money by staying in her own home and only charging for meal per diems for herself. She didn't charge per diems for her husband or her children, though she was legally entitled to do so. She could have had the state put her family up in a hotel or apartment while the renovations were going on. That would have been wildly more expensive than her meal per diems.

The AP continues:

Palin's practice of charging the state per diem became known after she was named John McCain's running mate on the Republican presidential ticket late last August.

It became a campaign issue after she was presented to the nation as a fiscal conservative.

No, actually the per diem issue was never hidden. It was first mentioned when KTUU reported back in 2007 that Gov. Palin had decided to spend the non-legislative session months working out of her Anchorage office.

And she is a fiscal conservative:

McAllister said Palin has been frugal in other ways as well. He said expense reports for per diem, lodging and travel for the governor and her husband, Todd Palin, in 2007 and 2008 show a savings of more than $900,000 compared to Murkowski's last two years in office.

Over two-thirds of that amount was attributable to Murkowski's use of the state jet. Palin had the jet sold when she took office and travels either on commercial flights or in the Department of Public Safety's 1980 twin-engine King Air.

An unspoken aspect of this whole per diem issue is the old argument about having the location of the capital in Juneau instead of in Willow (closer to Anchorage). The capital is the official residence of the governor. But Anchorage is the business center of Alaska. It's also the largest population center and is easy to get to. Juneau is not as accessible. The debate about the state capital is an old and hotly contested issue among Alaskans. I'll let them hash it out. I'm just clueing my fellow Lower 48ers in on the back-story.

UPDATE by Mel: You can hear the audio of Mr. Bill's entire press conference here. In addition to discussing per diems (and other expenses), Mr. Bill mentioned that the governor "is relinquishing the state vehicle she's been using and will be driving her own car." And her security staff isn't happy about it:

The governor intends to start driving her own car, Cockrell said, adding that he isn't pleased with the decision because her car -- a Volkswagen Jetta -- is small and not as safe as the state rig.