{"id":3545,"date":"2012-01-11T13:37:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-11T19:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=3545"},"modified":"2012-01-13T09:47:15","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T15:47:15","slug":"gov-fallin%e2%80%99s-bowl-game-trip-passes-6600-to-taxpayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/01\/11\/gov-fallin%e2%80%99s-bowl-game-trip-passes-6600-to-taxpayers\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Fallin\u2019s Bowl Game Trip Passes $6,600 to Taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brett Deering \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gov. Mary Fallin and first gentleman Wade Christensen took a state-owned plane to Arizona to represent OU and OSU in the Insight and Fiesta Bowls.<\/p>\n<\/div>

The Lost Ogle, the popular satirical social blog known for lampooning Oklahoma politicians and media personalities, was interested in why<\/a> the governor was on the stage during the Fiesta Bowl trophy ceremony.<\/p>

StateImpact Oklahoma and its Twitter followers<\/a> were interested how much, if any, taxpayer money was spent on the trip.<\/p>

Fallin\u2019s double bowl game trip to Arizona cost the state more than $6,600, records and interviews show.<\/p>

<\/p>

The governor\u2019s spokesman reiterated to us, as he did with The Lost Ogle, that the state did not pay for her tickets, meals or hotels during the trip.<\/p>

But that doesn\u2019t mean the trip was free for taxpayers.<\/p>

The trip included Fallin, first gentleman Wade Christensen, and a security detail provided by the Department of Public Safety.<\/p>

The entourage flew out of Norman\u2019s Max Westheimer Airport on a state-owned Beechcraft Super King Air B300, which made two stops in Phoenix and one in Las Vegas before returning on Jan. 3.<\/p>

The Las Vegas leg of the trip was for a vacation.<\/p>\n

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Click above to read the full log.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Had the governor not<\/em> flown to Vegas, she likely would have flown back<\/em> to Oklahoma between the Dec. 30 and Jan. 2 bowl games, \u201cwhich would have been greater mileage and cost,\u201d said spokesman Alex Weintz.<\/p>

We’ve uploaded a copy of the “travel use log” for the trip, which you can peruse by clicking the image to the left. StateImpact Oklahoma redacted the document to conceal details about the security team that traveled with the governor, per a request by the Department of Public Safety.<\/p>

While the travel use log shows the “total trip charge” as $8,510.15, the actual cost of the governor’s bowl trip was less than that.<\/p>

The state will pay about $6,633.63 \u201cout-of-pocket\u201d for the governor\u2019s bowl game trip, said Capt. Charles Strasbaugh with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Most of that \u2014 more than $4,800 \u2014 paid for about 919 gallons of fuel.<\/p>

The state also paid $1,593.78 to cover hotels, meals and car rental for the trip\u2019s pilot and co-pilot, plus $190 in landing fees and $6.38 for charts and maps, records show.<\/p>\n

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