A state lawmaker cannot accept an expenses-paid trip to attend a conference for drug companies and other health-related industries at the Ritz-Carlton in Arlington, Va., the state’s Independent Ethics Commission said Thursday.
In a rare instance where the commission unconditionally shot down travel by a lawmaker, the five-member commission said that state Rep. Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, cannot accept airfare, hotel and other trip expenses offered by the Center for Business Intelligence, a company that holds conferences for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical-device industries.
The conference, to be held in August at the Ritz-Carlton, was to feature a discussion of state laws that affect the industries. Pace is sponsoring a bill that would require businesses that receive state tax incentives to disclose how many jobs they have created.
