Perry campaign to pay for trip
Critics call Bahamas retreat on school finance inappropriate
08:26 PM CST on Tuesday, February 24, 2004
By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry's campaign will pay staff expenses for a trip to the Bahamas over the Presidents Day weekend that was shared by large donors, political consultants and advisers on school finance, a spokesman said Tuesday.
When asked about the trip Monday, spokesman Robert Black said he thought the cost of the three-day trip would be borne by private donors. But, he said, the point was clarified on Tuesday and he learned that the governor's political campaign had assumed the costs of the staff.
Mr. Perry, his wife, Anita, and a dozen others flew by private jet to the Abaco Islands where they held a retreat to discuss public school finance, Mr. Black said.
The trip has been blasted by citizens groups that said it is inappropriate for the governor to give special access to political donors and then to discuss important policy issues far from the public on a secluded island.
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/022504dntexbahamas.4e38e.html(quick, free registration required)
The article mentions that school voucher advocates, James Leininger and John Lau, who had given $100,000 and $75,000 to Perry's campaign were there, as was the lovely Grover Norquist.
Norquist