The Northwest Public Affairs Network is a Washington nonprofit corporation.


© 2024 Northwest News Network
Regional Journalism
Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Washington Legislature. Austin Jenkins is the Olympia correspondent for the Northwest News Network. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) weekly public affairs program "Inside Olympia."

Former Washington State Lawmaker Agrees To Pay $5,600 To Close Ethics Case

Washington Legislature
Former Washington state Rep. Susan Fagan has agreed to reimburse taxpayers $5,600.

Former Washington state Rep. Susan Fagan has agreed to reimburse taxpayers after filing false expense reports.

The Pullman Republican will pay $5,600 for expenses she couldn’t justify and half the costs incurred to investigate her case. She signed the agreement earlier this month, but it wasn’t released until Thursday.

This concludes an ethics complaint filed against Fagan in January. It alleged Fagan sought taxpayer reimbursement for trips she didn’t take, trips to events that didn’t exist, and even a trip to pick up a campaign check.

The Legislative Ethics Board hired an outside investigator to dig into the matter. He uncovered 18 instances of “general untruthfulness” and more than $1,700 in inappropriate reimbursements.

Fagan quickly repaid some of the money when questions were first raised. She resigned from the legislature under pressure on May 1.

In a statement she said “at no point did I try to derive personal gain from expense reimbursements.” She chalked up the discrepancies to treating her expense reports too “casually.”

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."