Other views: Stenehjem used poor judgment with trip to India

Where to start? We have all sorts of issues with Bob Stenehjem’s 10-day “economic development” trip to India, and we doubt we’re the only ones.

First, the trip kept Stenehjem, R-Bismarck, away from his duties at the state Legislature, where he is the Senate Republican majority leader. That alone is a problem. Stenehjem said he was asked in mid-December to take the trip as a representative of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. He should have said “no” then.

Voters elected him to do a job, and that job requires him to be in attendance at the Legislature. He missed 10 days of work during the opening of the Legislature. That alone is unacceptable. His first duty is to represent the people who elected him, and he failed to do that.

Second, Stenehjem said he will keep the 10 days worth of pay he accumulated while on the trip. He earns $158 per day. He said keeping the pay is justified because he was gone on state business, and it’s common for legislators to receive their daily pay when they are absent. Perhaps that is the common practice, but that surely brings up even more issues. Should legislators be paid for days they are not working at the Legislature, especially when the absence is for a voluntary trip to India?

Third, Stenehjem left on the trip without informing his fellow Senate Republican colleagues and his office secretary of the trip’s details, although he did tell some people he would be gone during the week. He also said he was unable to log onto his state Internet account while in India to check messages.

The entire episode points to serious lapses in judgment by Stenehjem. He should not accept the 10 days worth of pay, and he should apologize for his mistake to the voters who elected him. We have a right to expect better decisions from the leaders of our state Legislature.

Tags: other views, opinion, editorials, stenehjem, india, economy