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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Past Readers Polls Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games Movie Preview October 18, 2006 Oregon House Speaker Minnis reports Hawaii trip SALEM — House Speaker Karen Minnis has reported that a 2003 trip to Hawaii was partly paid by a national legislative leaders group. The Wood Village Republican said the State Legislative Leaders Foundation paid $1,577 of her expenses while she attended the National Speakers Conference in September 2003. Her disclosure to the state ethics commission marked the third time in the past two weeks the House leader has reported trips that should have been disclosed earlier. Earlier this month, she disclosed that she made trips to Las Vegas and Israel that were paid for by the legislative leadership group and the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. Minnis told the ethics commission she didn't report the Hawaii trip because she mistakenly believed she had paid her own way to the conference. A review of Minnis' credit card bills showed she paid about $3,100 in airfare and hotel costs for the Hawaii trip she made with her husband and daughter, said her chief of staff, Gary Wilhelms. Minnis' campaign paid for her travel costs, he said. After an inquiry by The Oregonian newspaper, however, the legislative leaders group notified Minnis that it had paid for four nights of her hotel stay, he said. State law allows public officials to accept unlimited travel, food and lodging, but they must itemize office-related events where someone pays more than a certain amount for providing those services for them. The newspaper found seven current and former legislators had accepted trips to Maui in 2002 and 2004 from the Oregon Beer and Wine Distributors Association without reporting them. House Republicans have also called on House Minority Leader Jeff Merkley, D-Portland, to report a 2002 trip he took to Israel. The trip was financed by Project Interchange, a national nonprofit group that was chaired at the time by Paul Romain, the lobbyist for Oregon beer and wine distributors. But Merkley notes he worked for the World Affairs Council of Oregon at the time and made the trip as part of a national group of council representatives from around the country, not as a legislator. Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.