PROVIDENCE, R.I. - House Speaker Gordon Fox's travels last year took him to Palm Beach, Fla., Los Angeles, and Anchorage, Alaska, at the expense of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation.
The foundation, paid a total of $5,751.18 to send Fox to four events, including an economic summit it hosted at UCLA in California, and a National Speakers Conference in Alaska.
On her own once-a-year financial disclosure filing with the state Ethics Commission, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed reported a trip to Key West, Fla. at the expense of the Senate Presidents Forum, for a panel discussion on "pension reform,'' and a trip to Chicago for a National Conference of State Legislatures summit where she was also a featured speaker on pension policy.
The two groups paid $3,617.74 towards her travels.
The two legislative leaders reported amounts outsiders have paid for their travel, for the first time this year under a new Ethics Commission reporting requirement sought by Common Cause of Rhode Island.
The annual reports also disclose sources of income which, in Fox's case, includes fees he was again paid last year by the Providence Economic Partnership Inc. for his role as a closing attorney "on an individual basis