Amodei returns unspent portion of office budget

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., says he didn’t spend all of his allotted office budget and will be returning about $104,000 to the federal treasury.

He said the money, about 8 percent of his 2013 budget, should be applied to deficit reduction.

“In the face of a $17.3 trillion federal debt, I think it is a sign of basic respect to Nevadans and Americans to run a fiscally conservative office while offering the greatest possible service to my constituents at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers,” he said in a statement.

He said that amount is on top of the $167,080 that was cut from his budget as part of the sequester and other changes. He said he supported provisions to cut congressional office budgets by 11.4 percent and, in his staff, eliminated two vacant positions to reduce costs.

Last year, he returned a total of $172,144 in unspent office funding. Since his election in September 2011, he said that brings the total he has turned back to the treasury to about $370,000.