Report: State Employees Misusing Credit Cards

Georgia government employees have used state-issued purchasing cards for everything from tattoos to concert tickets. That's according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of three years of records.

The analysis shows the program started as a way for workers to buy office supplies, but now it has turned into a spending spree that could rack up 370 million dollars this year.

There are now more than 23,000 of the so-called p-cards – which are credit cards billed to government agencies.

Georgia's p-card policy makes entertainment off-limits, and specifically bans personal use of the cards.

The cards have come under increased scrutiny after an October audit showed widespread abuse of the cards. The report prompted Governor Perdue to order all 129 state agencies using the cards to review their purchases.

The state's latest review in November of p-card payments have turned up no new cases of abuse.

(The Associated Press)