Invoices Being Prepared for State Attorneys General

(Washington, D.C.) - In an ongoing effort to inform taxpayers of the high cost of the continued litigation against Microsoft by nine state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the first of its weekly updates estimating the amount of money being risked by the states at taxpayers' expense.  In addition, CAGW will be keeping track of the total amount spent through a spending meter to be located on its website, www.cagw.org.  At the conclusion of the trial, on behalf of the taxpayers in the nine states and DC, CAGW will present an invoice to the attorneys general for the final cost.

CAGW's analysis, based on information collected from other leading litigation firms in Washington, reveals that each day in court costs at least $30,000, beginning Monday, March 18, 2002.   "While nine states and the Department of Justice have agreed to settle this matter, nine other states and the District of Columbia continue to prolong the case at taxpayers' expense," CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "It is already clear that the price tag attached to this trial will not be cheap.  Unfortunately, the state attorneys general have been less than forthcoming in informing taxpayers of the costs involved to continue the case."

CAGW has repeatedly asked for information regarding the states' expenditures in the case by filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the attorneys general, most recently in January 2002.  The states have either denied the requests or provided incomplete responses.  California, for example, which is leading the effort to prolong the litigation, promised to provide information by early February.  To date, there has been no additional response from the state.  Utah claimed it had no additional expenses since it last responded to CAGW’s FOIA request in early 2000, yet the state's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, spent the entire day in the courtroom on Monday, March 18.  Finally, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal claimed at a press conference late Monday that consumers in his state "get it" and understand why the case is being continued.

"The only thing taxpayers in Connecticut and the other litigating states are 'getting' is a large legal bill," Schatz also said.  "It is time that the state attorneys general come clean and be honest about how much money they are spending.  With many of these states already facing financial difficulties, this money and the attorneys' general time could be better spent on homeland security and other critical needs," Schatz also said.  "Instead, valuable resources are being spent in an effort to seek draconian remedies that may or may not be approved."

According to an analysis by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, the nine states (excluding Washington, DC) are facing a combined budget shortfall of $20.6 billion.  Leading the way is California with $14.5 billion, followed by Minnesota with $2 billion, Florida with $1.4 billion, and Massachusetts with $1.35 billion.  "Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly didn’t mention this at the courthouse press conference on Monday," added Schatz.  "It must be embarrassing to be wasting tax dollars to prolong a case at a cost of $30,000 a day when your state is running deficits.  How will these attorneys general explain the bill that they will have to pay in three months when the remedy phase of the trial ends, especially since nine other states have wisely chosen to settle the matter? " concluded Schatz.  "It is time to end this costly litigation and return valuable resources to where they are needed."

CAGW has calculated that prior to the current remedy phase of the litigation, the cost of the entire Microsoft trial involving all the states and the Department of Justice is $35 million.  CAGW will update the state attorneys’ general spending meter every Friday morning through the end of the Microsoft lawsuit.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.