Florida lawmakers question spending on out-of-state employees, travel

Four high-level Florida employees earning six-figure salaries live out of state and racked up $56,000 in travel expenses, including money spent on trips to Tallahassee, in the last two years, a Florida budget oversight panel has learned.

The four data analysts work for the Department of Management Services, which also came under fire after an audit released last week showed a number of glaring data management problems, notably the agency’s inability to keep track of the number of vehicles the state owns.

Out of nearly 35,000 vehicles listed in the state’s new vehicle-tracking database, about 2,300 valued at $57 million were unaccounted for in other state property records, and hundreds of others had missing or inaccurate vehicle ID numbers, the audit stated.

Seven people who run state agencies also spent large sums on travel — $160,000 in two years, according to state records. The head of the gaming commission spent the most, at more than $76,000, and the lottery secretary came in second with more than $35,000 in travel bills, including a $2,745 one-week trip to Paris last October to attend a world lottery conference.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/03/13/florida-lawmakers-question-spending-out-of-state-employees-travel/