Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright is routinely one of Albany’s highest per-diem earners — and sometimes collected payments when he wasn’t even in the state capital.
A review of two years’ worth of per-diem and travel records by The Post shows that on at least three occasions, Wright didn’t always hit the sack in Albany when he was being paid $165 a day for being there.
On two occasions in 2011 — March 8 and Dec. 4 — he simply tacked on an extra day to his trip, according to E-ZPass records provided by Wright’s office.
During another weeklong trip in March 2012, Wright went home one night during the middle of the week, but submitted a claim for a full night’s stay.
A spokesman for Wright called the extra payments a “clerical” error.
He also said the state comptroller, who oversees per diems, was reviewing the records.
“Keith has already said that he stands ready to discuss with the New York State Comptroller’s Office what, if any, remedies are needed,” said Wright spokesman George Arzt.
On two other weeks in July 2012, Wright claimed to be in Albany for several days but had no E-ZPass records to prove it. He was paid $568.60 for each week.
Arzt said Wright’s E-ZPass was “lost” and that the assemblyman, who also serves as the state Democratic chairman, was indeed in Albany as he claimed.
The revelations have renewed calls for a better system to monitor payments made to legislators, which at the time included $165 for each day they were Albany plus reimbursement for mileage.
“There is no oversight of the per diems — it’s a trust-not-verify system that allows abuse to take place,” said Dick Dadey of the government watchdog group Citizens Union.
Dadey said recommended reforms on per diems have always been “dead on arrival” in Albany.
“But law enforcement officials are increasingly looking at this and have only begun to scratch the surface,” he added.
Wright didn’t always use his per diems to pay for hotels. In an interview, Wright said that around 2005 he started to share an apartment with his son, who was attending college in the Albany area.
“I stayed in hotels around 12 years. Didn’t like it. And my son was going to college up there . . . We stayed together in order to keep expense down as much,” he said.
Wright, who has been in the Assembly since 1993,
claimed an average of $29,401 a year since 2010, when a statewide financial accounting system was put in place.
Some of the reimbursements were made during months the Legislature was not in session.
“There’s always something going on — it’s the center of government,” Wright said. The off-session is the “best time to talk to commissioners. I’m famous for roaming the halls of the second floor — you want to find out what they are working on.”
Wright insisted he goes to Albany because it’s part of his job.
“I love helping people. When I go up off-session it’s because I’m working — I don’t go to Albany to vacation,” he said.