Joe Carraro didn't seek re-election to the state Senate last year, and after the June 2008 primary it was clear that state Sen. Shannon Robinson and state Rep. Dan Silva wouldn't be returning to the Legislature this year either.

But that didn't stop the three from taking trips out of state to various conferences with expenses covered by taxpayers.

Robinson — following his defeat to Tim Keller of Albuquerque in the June 3, 2008, Democratic primary — traveled to locales including Mexico City, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oklahoma City, all for meetings of an international group called The Energy Council, for which Robinson served as president.

Silva — a 22-year House veteran who lost the Democratic primary to Eleanor Chavez — made state-paid trips to New Orleans, Anchorage, Alaska, and Oklahoma City after his defeat.

Carraro, who ran unsuccessfully for a congressional seat in the Republican primary, also went to New Orleans, which hosted the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and Anchorage, the location of the Council of State Governments-West annual meeting.

These trips are documented in lawmakers' travel vouchers from last year, recently inspected by The New Mexican.

A year in travel

In 2008, the state paid more than $211,000 for legislators to travel out of state. In a similar study by The New Mexican seven years ago, the state paid less than $130,000 for out-of-state travel for legislators.

The travel expenses paid by the state include per diems for legislators as well as transportation expenses. (The figure includes expenses for some late 2007 trips that were paid last year. And there likely are late 2008 expenses for legislative travel that weren't paid until early this year.)

Per diem for legislators, which is based on a federal government formula, started out at $144 in 2008 and rose by a dollar later in the year.

Most of these expenses were for conferences, meetings and workshops sponsored by national organizations to which the state pays dues — NCSL, CSG and The Energy Council, which is made up of government officials, lobbyists and industry representatives from oil- and gas-producing states and nations including Mexico, Canada and Venezuela.

Paula Tackett, director of the Legislative Council Service, said the state pays tens of thousands of dollars a year in dues to each of these three organizations. CSG-West alone costs the state $96,000 a year. But that money goes for much more than forums and conferences, Tackett said. The Legislature uses these groups for research in a variety of issues, she said.

But there are several other conferences that attract New Mexico legislators. There's ethnic and women-oriented associations like the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials and the National Foundation of Women Legislators; industry-related groups like the National Conference of Insurance Legislators; groups for conservatives (American Legislative Exchange Council) and for liberals (Progressive States Network). And there are several issue-oriented conferences on topics like education, health, crime and global warming to which New Mexico legislators traveled last year.

Records show the cost of travel for legislators greatly varies — even when they are traveling to the same place.

For instance, it cost $2,731 to send Rep. Donna Irwin, D-Deming, to the CSG-West conference in Alaska, compared with $1,723 in expenses paid to Joe Campos, D-Santa Rosa, for the same conference.

There are a variety of factors in such differences. If a legislator lives farther from the airport, he or she will get more money for mileage than a lawmaker who lives near the airport. Sometimes lawmakers have to go early for committee meetings. Airline-ticket prices also will vary, and some get better deals than others. There is no central travel agency booking flights for legislators, so lawmakers are on their own for getting tickets.

By state law, legislators must take "the shortest, most direct route" and must fly coach, not first class. Out-of-state travel must be approved by the speaker of the House or the Senate president pro-tem.

Ramblin' man

The most traveled legislator in 2008 was Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque. The state spent $18,971 last year to send McSorley to places including Lake Louise, Canada; Las Vegas, Nev.; Lexington, Ky.; Atlanta; Kansas City, Mo.; Omaha, Neb.; and Big Sky, Mont.

"I'm trying to make a point," McSorley said when asked about his frequent trips. "I've been watching for 25 years legislators making trips paid for by lobbyists." In contrast, he said, all of his trips are above-board and transparent.

McSorley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the money the state reimbursed him is far less than he actually spent. The difference, he said, was paid for with his campaign funds — a practice that provoked criticism earlier this year. McSorley defends using his campaign funds to pay his travel expenses, but says it shows why state legislators should be paid salaries. New Mexico is one of the only states that doesn't pay salaries to lawmakers.

McSorley said because the state pays dues to organizations like NCSL, CSG and The Energy Council, it's a shame that more legislators don't attend more of the conferences offered. "It's not whether they go, it's whether they show up to the business sessions," McSorley said. Not all legislators do, he said, but he declined to name names.

But for those who do show up to the sessions, these conferences are a good way to learn directly from experts about issues that legislatures must deal with. McSorley, an attorney, compared one of his trips — to the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws — in Big Sky, Mont., last July to law school. "You sit in a classroom from 8 to 5," he said.

It's not all business at all the conferences, however. There are parties, cocktail receptions and banquets.

At last November's national summit of the National Hispanic Conference of State Legislators in Las Vegas, Nev., Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Taos, played in a golf tournament, the John S. Martinez Golf Outing, named for a former Connecticut legislator who served as president of the organization.

Cisneros said Friday that even a round of golf can be beneficial for legislators. "That's where you make a lot of contacts," he said. "I was walking around with legislators from Arizona and Wyoming. We discussed primarily issues that are important to our state legislatures."

Flight of the lame ducks

It's against state law to reimburse state legislators for travel if they are not seeking re-election or if they've been defeated in an election and won't be coming back — against the law unless the travel is approved by a three-fourths vote of the Legislative Council at a regularly called meeting.

On June 23, 2008, about three weeks after the primary, the Legislative Council unanimously passed a motion to approve travel to "national committees to which they have been appointed" for lawmakers not seeking re-election or who were defeated in the primary.

Robinson was president of The Energy Council. Silva was chairman of the NCSL's Transportation Committee and a vice chairman of a similar committee of CSG-West. Carraro was on committees for the CSG-West and NCSL.

The state spent $3,778 on Carraro's travel last year, $5,766 for Robinson's post-primary trips and $5,112 on Silva's travels after his election defeat.

Carraro said even though he wasn't seeking re-election last year, he was still serving on the Legislative Finance Committee, which meets while the Legislature isn't in session.

Silva said he initially decided not to go to the out-of-state conferences after his primary defeat. But he ultimately decided he was obligated to go. In New Orleans, he said, he was on a panel with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

Robinson said being president of The Energy Council was one of the biggest honors of his career in the Senate. "The trips I took after I lost my primary were part of my job," he said. "Believe me, it was a difficult challenge to be able to make (The Energy Council meetings) an interesting forum and a forum for change. This is a forum that New Mexico should be proud of."

Looking ahead

Some lawmakers already are looking ahead to this year's round of out-of-state confabs. The NCSL is meeting next month in Philadelphia.

But travel reimbursements should be much cheaper for this year's annual meeting of CSG-West, even though more state legislators are expect to attend. That meeting is scheduled Oct. 5-8 in Santa Fe.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.