HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania state legislators flew to foreign lands, cheered on pro sports teams from the stands and even paid some criminal defense legal bills last year without having to crack open their own wallets.

Lawmakers collected about $22,000 in gifts and $89,000 in subsidized travel in 2007, according to an Associated Press analysis of their annual Statement of Financial Interests forms.

The forms were due at the State Ethics Commission on Thursday.

Free or partially free travel took them to Ireland, Poland, Taiwan, Mexico, Las Vegas and beyond. They reaped free tickets to watch Penn State's football team and NASCAR races in the Poconos, not to mention the Philadelphia Eagles, Phillies and 76ers. Ski passes were covered and greens fees were gratis.

Three Democratic state representatives reported windfalls from gambling.

Flo Fabrizio of Erie County said he and his wife enjoy playing the slots and eating dinner at Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie. On one outing, his 75-cent slots bet hit a $1,500 jackpot.

"I put it in the bank," he said. "We have one rule: If we're losing, we walk out very quickly, and if we're winning, we walk out very quickly."

Frank Andrews Shimkus of Lackawanna County won twice at Tioga Downs in Nichols, N.Y., collecting about $7,000 over two weeks in February.

Frank Oliver of Philadelphia said he was unsure of the details of his winnings.

Two senators facing criminal charges disclosed legal defense funds: Bob Regola, R-Westmoreland, and Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia.

Fumo, awaiting trial on federal corruption charges, said his Phoenix Trust's "blind" structure keeps him from knowing the donors or amounts, but Regola named 24 donors - some consisting of more than one person - who pitched in $13,375.

They included fellow state senators, senatorial aides and lobbyists. About $2,000 more has come in since January, a spokesman said Thursday.

"Contributions don't make a difference to the way he votes, whether they be to his defense fund, his political action committee or anywhere else," said Regola spokesman Ray Zaborney.

Regola is accused of lying under oath during an inquest into the death of a teen neighbor who authorities say shot himself with Regola's handgun nearly two years ago.

House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, and Rep. Rosita Youngblood, D-Philadelphia, reported a weeklong trip to Taiwan that was funded by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.

DeWeese, who put the value of the trip at $4,800, said they visited high-tech and environmentally friendly manufacturing sites and met with foreign ministry officials. He also listed a $2,500 trip to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico, where he served as a Pennsylvania Bar Association meeting panelist.

Rep. Keith McCall of Carbon County, the Democratic whip, received $5,000 in golf tournament fees and lodging from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, an organization chaired by actor Clint Eastwood. McCall's spokesman said he played in a tournament that benefits a youth charity, and paid his own travel costs to California.

The Legislature's $111,000 total for freebies does not include thousands of dollars in donations that legislators reported receiving from businesses to help pay for events such as senior expos and a Korean War veterans recognition ceremony.

Most lawmakers reported no gifts or travel.

Officials elected to statewide office also must disclose income, gifts and subsidized travel.

Attorney General Tom Corbett, a Republican, reported receiving a total of $7,100 in travel and entertainment that was paid by the Republican State Leadership Committee, the Philadelphia law firm Blank Rome LLP, Dr. Glenn Buterbaugh of Wexford and the St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.

Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, a Democrat, listed a $5,900 "gratuity" from industrial services conglomerate Harsco Corp. to pay for actor Mickey Rooney, his wife and son to attend her inauguration for a second term in January.

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On the Net:

Statements of Financial Interest: http://www.ethicsrulings.state.pa.us/

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