The travel issue erupted again this spring thanks to a controversy surrounding a potential ethics violation by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. DeLay reportedly accepted trips from the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, which had registered as a foreign agent.
No one is accusing S.C. lawmakers of taking travel from foreign agents, but people are examining their travel habits.
Most lawmaker travel is a little closer to home to speak at conferences at resorts around the state, but others travel throughout the nation and even internationally.
Gov. Mark Sanford and Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, were among those mentioned in The Associated Press story published this week. Both reported the travel as required by the S.C. Ethics Commission.
Sanford accepted more than $6,000 in free travel from supporters in 2004. Sanford said the gifts of trips to locations such as Seattle and New Orleans saved taxpayer dollars. And previous governors, Republican and Democrat, have traveled at others' expense.
Rep. Ceips visited Bahrain in September as part of a conference paid for by the National Foundation for Women Legislators. The conference was to strengthen ties between Bahrain and the United States. Ceips took a follow-up trip to Tampa, Fla., in December, according to The AP. Together, the trips cost at least $2,000, according to Ceips' disclosure forms.
Other elected officials who have been in the news in recent months for taking trips include Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who took a $17,000 trip to Paris, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who went on a $10,600 fact-finding trip to Rome. The trips were courtesy of the Nuclear Energy Institute, The Chicago Tribune reported in May.
Lawmakers claim that trips benefited the public in one way or another -- saving taxpayers money or providing information. Even public-interest groups concede that trips are often useful, even when privately funded.
But the old saying that there is no such thing as a "free lunch" often is true.
"When these business interests, special interest groups give these free trips, the appearance at a minimum is that they expect something in return," said John Crangle, executive director of the state chapter of Common Cause, a Washington-based government watchdog group.
When confronted by Crangle's organization about travel, former Gov. David Beasley, a Republican, reimbursed businesses and individuals for $13,800 in free travel, The AP reported.
And that is what current elected officials should do. If they are traveling on state business, the state should pay. If they travel on political party business, the party should pay. If the business is personal, the elected official or staff member should pay.
Another truism about private individuals and companies paying for the travel of public officials is that it rarely looks good.