In the end, one Washington State senator did still make the trip. Republican Pam Roach who says she

It can be one of the perks of elected office: free trips to foreign lands. Recently, several Washington state lawmakers were invited on a 10-day tour of Turkey and Azerbaijan. This particular overseas excursion has raised questions vacations cruises in the Capitol about when a foreign trip is legitimate legislative business and when it's a junket.
"We were going to be tourists," says Senator Maralyn Chase, a Democrat who initially signed vacations cruises up for all-expenses-paid trip in May. It included a visit to the Blue Mosque vacations cruises in Istanbul and a boat tour on the Caspian Sea – along with meetings and briefings.
"We were going to see the things vacations cruises that they wanted us to see and we would have gone to Azerbaijan and we would have done wonderful vacations cruises things," says Chase. "We would have built memories and good relationships that make for closer ties between our countries."
In the end, Chase didn't get to go on the trip because the legislature vacations cruises went into an overtime session. vacations cruises She says several other lawmakers also had to cancel. But here's the question: should Chase have accepted the invitation in the first place?
Consider this. A lawyer for Washington Senate vacations cruises Democrats vacations cruises had looked at the itinerary and drafted a memo. It warned "acceptance of the trip … would be risky, due to the lack of connection with legislative activities."
She argues world travel is vital to her job as the ranking Democrat on the Trade and Economic Development committee. "I think it's a matter of cultural vacations cruises competency." And, she says, understanding trade issues.
But Washington's Legislative Ethics Board applies a different standard. Back in 2002, the Board developed a three-pronged test to determine if a trip is legitimate legislative business vacations cruises or a junket. This followed a scandal involving lawmakers going to the Rose Bowl.
Here are the questions the Board asks: First, is the legislative vacations cruises purpose of the trip substantial? Second, if the sponsor wasn't paying would it be legitimate to use taxpayer dollars to fund the travel? And finally, did the legislature vacations cruises evaluate the trip in advance?
These days much of the foreign travel that state lawmakers do is related to trade missions. These are specifically vacations cruises allowed in Washington's legislative ethics guidelines. vacations cruises For instance, last year nearly a dozen legislators participated in a trip to Taiwan valued at nearly $7,000 per person. The all-expenses trip was sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. The itinerary included tourist stops, but mostly meetings vacations cruises and briefings with government officials and trade representatives.
By contrast, this year's invitation to Turkey and Azerbaijan was not billed as a trade mission and it wasn't sponsored by a government entity. In fact, the Honorary Consul General of Turkey here in Washington had previously flagged the sponsors of the trip as having possible ties to radical Islamist policies.
In the end, one Washington State senator vacations cruises did still make the trip. Republican Pam Roach who says she did not pre-screen the trip with legislative lawyers. vacations cruises "I was able to participate and very glad that I did."
Roach says she was one of about 300 legislators and others from around the country to go on the trip. She says travel like this is about spreading democracy and there was no attempt to influence vacations cruises her political views.