Carona owned a private plane. According to an investigation by Texas Watchdog, Carona used his personal plane to travel in Texas and was reimbursed $17,000 by state taxpayers for the cost of the flights he took on his private plane between January 1, 2008-May 1, 2009. According to the watchdog website, Carona could have flown on cheaper commercial transportation for the flights in question. His most expensive flight was between Dallas and El Paso in July 2008, at a roundtrip cost of about $1,300. Relative to the flights, Carona said that he flew on his private plane because he had responsibilities in the state senate and in his job as president and CEO of Associa, a national firm that specialized in homeowner association management. Carona said, "Covering both responsibilities in an efficient fashion necessitates that I avoid canceled flights and long delays in airport terminals. Therefore, by necessity, I fly private aircraft whenever possible. It allows me to fulfill my duties, without disruption, to both my constituents and my clients." Other state senators who spent taxpayer money on noncommercial airfare include Carlos Uresti and Robert Duncan.

Senator Carona was implicated in a Texas Watchdog December 2013 report on political favoritism at the University of Texas. Carona's son Jeffrey Steven Carona, along with two other sons of Texas state lawmakers, failed the Texas bar exam repeatedly after graduating from the University of Texas Law School. This was unusual for University of Texas Law School graduates, as less than 10 percent had to retake the exam in the eight years prior to 2013. State Senator Judith Zaffirini (D), to whom Carona has given over $30,000 in campaign contributions, and State Representative Jim Pitts (R) were also implicated in the report, as their sons had similar difficulties. The report found that between the three lawmakers' sons, they had taken the bar exam 10 times -- with only two passing the exam. The report was released following months of investigations into University Regent Wallace Hall and his FOIA requests of the University system. Hall implied that there were issues of clout and corruption within the Texas school system, alleging that legislators were using their political influence to affect law school admissions. The Watchdog report was issued following its investigation, which it said did not include details from Hall's FOIA requests.