WASHINGTON – Financial reports filed by senators Angus King and Susan Collins reveal that both Maine lawmakers – along with their spouses – were sitting on potentially sizable nest eggs last year, with King entering the Senate with millions of dollars in assets.

It is impossible to say precisely how much King, Collins or any other member of Congress is worth in terms of total assets because of the vague financial disclosure reports filed by lawmakers. But the reports allow the public to see how and where elected officials invest money and offer at least a conservative estimate of lawmakers’ total assets.

A former two-term governor and successful businessman, King and his wife, Mary Herman, reported assets of somewhere between $5 million and $26 million after accounting for mortgages and other debts. Those figures are so far apart because the Senate’s financial disclosure forms require lawmakers or candidates to report assets such as stock holdings and retirement accounts in broad ranges.

For instance, four of King’s investment funds are valued between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000 each. Similarly, a house/rental property in Brunswick and a vacation rental property in the Virgin Islands (in which King and Herman own a partial share) are each valued between $250,001 and $500,000.

The records were specific when it comes to salaries and other sources of non-investment income in 2012 before he was sworn in as senator. King earned $10,140 from Bowdoin College where he teaches, $30,488 from his state of Maine pension and $225,000 as the executor of the estate of Roger C. Kline. All told, King’s report showed more than $380,000 in non-investment earnings.

Collins and her husband of less than one year, Tom Daffron, had total assets of somewhere between $600,000 and $3.8 million, depending on how the numbers are crunched.

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Collins did not report any non-investment income outside of her Senate salary, which is $174,000 a year. Daffron, a former longtime staffer on Capitol Hill who now works for a Washington-based consulting firm, was not required to report a salary as a spouse other than to say he earned more than $1,000.

Senate rules prohibit senators from receiving gifts valued at more than $50 or several smaller gifts from one person with a cumulative value of $100 or more. One of the exceptions to this rule, however, is wedding gifts, although lawmakers are required to report gifts if they are worth $350 or more.

Collins and Daffron, who were married last August during a private ceremony, reported several gifts valued over $350, including a silver serving dish worth $400 from former senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole and $391 in dishes and silverware from Leon Gorman, who stepped down as chairman of L. L. Bean this week.

Financial disclosure reports for Maine’s two U.S. House members – Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud – were not yet available for calendar year 2012.

Kevin Miller can be contacted at 317-6256 or at:

kmiller@mainetoday.com

On Twitter: @KevinMillerDC


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