NASHVILLE - Six Tennessee state lawmakers who received an expense-paid trip to Europe did not have to report it under state campaign finance laws because the donor is not a registered lobbyist.
The Tennessean reports that the five-day trip in 2011 was billed as a "fact finding" mission about the dangers of radical Islam and was financed by Republican donor Andy Miller. The trip took the lawmakers to Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Those taking the trip were Sens. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro and Reginald Tate of Memphis; and Reps. Joe Carr of Murfreesboro, Matthew Hill of Jonesborough; Jeremy Faison of Cosby, and Judd Matheny of Tullahoma. Tate is a Democrat while the others are Republicans.
Carr vacated his House seat to make an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014.