Texas' liquor regulator got 'hazardous duty' pay on Hawaii junket
The state’s top liquor regulator got “hazardous duty pay” — typically provided to state employees doing risky work — while attending alcohol industry conferences at fancy resorts in Hawaii, Florida and California, state records show.
The reason: Sherry Cook was trained as a “peace officer” — a cop — a designation that allowed the director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to increase her take-home pay, get a state-owned vehicle and fill her tank with free state gas.
Cook is not alone.
TABC paid to help Deputy Director Ed Swedberg get trained last year as a certified police officer and gave him a car even though he — like Cook — is a civilian employee whose job description does not require peace officer certification, records show.
The agency’s annual reports show the number of employees provided state-owned cars at TABC’s Austin headquarters has more than doubled in less than a decade. In 2008, six people at agency headquarters had state-provided cars, the report that year said. By the 2016 fiscal year, that number had shot up to 15, the reports show.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article144281929.html