Inundated with constituent questions and buffeted by opposition criticism, state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown said she was giving up driving a new Mercedes-Benz owned by a company with state transportation contracts. 

Tearing up as she spoke to a Dallas Morning News reporter, Harper-Brown, R-Irving, insisted there was nothing unethical for her husband, William E. Brown III, to be compensated with the use of the $56,000 Mercedes-Benz E550 and another vehicle for accounting work he does for Durable Enterprises Equipment Ltd. Durable and another company  owned by the same person have $2.9 million in contracts with the Texas Department of Transportation this year. 

"I did not see that there was a problem driving the car," she said. "Because there is the perception of impropriety, I've asked him to change that and I haven't driven the car."

Still, Harper-Brown asked her husband to change the arrangement with Durable.

Harper-Brown had argued that she broke no law when she failed to list the luxury car on her financial or campaign disclosure reports.

Indeed, she has not. A carefully worded spousal reporting requirement in Texas law requires only disclosures of income over which a politician in a family setting has "actual control." Texas Watchdog has reported on this spousal loophole since last year, when we highlighted Houston Democrat and mayoral candidate Peter Brown's use of the loophole.

Brown failed to list his wife, oilfield-services heiress Anne Schlumberger Brown, on his 2007 ethics disclosure but added her name to his 2008 form -- yet still failed to disclose the couple's joint financial holdings as Brown voted on a key issue that would financial help his wife, and, therefore, himself.

Also from Harper-Brown:

(Harper-Brown) said she would introduce a bill in the Legislature to require state officials to include the income, gifts and compensation given to their spouses on personal financial disclosure reports.

Early returns from the left-leaning blog world suggest not a lot of support for Harper-Brown or her decision. Letters From Texas suggests that Harper-Brown cannot undo what she has already done and Burnt Orange Report says because of that, perhaps, a criminal or ethics investigation is in order. Bay Area Houston holds out a skeletal hand to Harper-Brown, offering, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, a way for her to have kept the Mercedes.

No word on any blog weighing in on the other public officials who have taken advantage of this loophole. If we have missed any, let us know, and we will highlight.

Mark Lisheron can be reached at mark@texaswatchdog.org or at 512-299-2318.