NY State Senator Jessica Ramos Accused of Double-Billing Travel Expenses

New York State Senator Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat and 2025 mayoral candidate, is accused of systematically double-dipping on travel expenses — charging both her campaign account and state taxpayers for the same trips, according to records and interviews with former staff members.

Investigators combing through campaign finance records, state reimbursement logs, bank statements, and handwritten travel vouchers identified more than 50 instances in a single expense category — Amtrak train fare — where the dollar amounts charged to her campaign exactly matched reimbursements she received from the Legislature's expense system during the same periods. The pattern suggests a deliberate practice rather than accounting error.

A specific April 2024 hotel billing illustrates the alleged scheme in concrete terms. Ramos checked into the Home2 Suites on Metro Park Road in Albany on April 15 for a three-night stay, then moved to the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Albany on April 18 for two more nights — both reservations under her name. She billed her campaign $618 to cover both hotels, then simultaneously submitted a legislative per diem voucher that reimbursed her the full $618 plus an additional $183 on top, netting her a profit on the lodging.

Ramos chairs the State Senate's Labor Committee, a post she has held since 2019, and ran an unsuccessful campaign for New York City mayor last year. The allegations arrive at a politically damaging moment, given her profile as a progressive labor champion. Former aides who spoke to investigators described the double-billing as a recurring practice over multiple years, not an isolated incident.