Wednesday, April 15, 1998 | 12:01 p.m.
Gov. Bob Miller today disclosed about $48,000 in privately funded trips outside Nevada that he previously had failed to report.
The trips were declared as gifts in amended financial disclosure forms detailing the governor's 1996 and 1997 travels that were funded by a once-secret $71,000 trust of private donations.
The additional $48,000 raised the total amount reported by the governor to more than $56,000.
Miller previously declared $8,310 in trips in 1997.
In his amended 1996 statement, Miller disclosed that $41,089 in trips were funded by the trust that year.
His 1997 statement was amended to include another $6,800 in trips.
Included in the never-before reported 1996 trips was a $12,100 tab to attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August 1996.
Miller, his wife Sandy, Chief of Staff Jim Mulhall, Press Secretary Richard Urey and administrative aide Nicole Lamboley all went on that trip.
A $6,500 bill for a National Governors Association meeting in Puerto Rico in 1996 also was among Miller's latest disclosures. Miller, his wife, and several staff members attended that meeting in which Miller was installed as the NGA's chairman.
The governor today was to file the amended financial disclosure statements for both years with the Nevada Ethics Commission.
None of the $41,089 in trips funded by the trust in 1996 were reported, as required by state law, on the governor's original 1996 disclosure statement.
Miller today acknowledged erring by not fully disclosing his travels and not consulting with the Ethics Commission before setting up the fund in 1996.
"Unfortunately, I did not exercise the necessary oversight to be sure that all expenditures from the trust were correctly reported in financial disclosures to the Commission on Ethics," Miller said. "I take full responsibility for the omissions."
"It's particularly disappointing to me personally that I made such an oversight because this is an area that I've always prided myself in."
Miller said he decided to review his travels following news reports about the trust and its high-powered donors.
Deputy Attorney General Louis Ling, who represents the Ethics Commission, said it was not unusual for amended statements to be filed by elected officials.
"It happens all the time," Ling said, adding he didn't expect to pursue any sanctions against Miller.
The private travel fund was not made public until the governor filed his 1997 disclosure statement with the Ethics Commission on March 31.
On that statement, Miller revealed only $8,310 in trips financed by the trust fund. Included in that amount was a $4,000 expenditure to attend President Clinton's January 1997 inauguration.
Urey said the incomplete accounting of the governor's travels had "slipped through the cracks" and that the governor was "offering no excuses for it."
As of April 2, Urey said, the trust had $6,880 left and there were no plans to raise additional funds.
Though not illegal, the trust has been criticized by the government watchdog group, Common Cause, as being vulnerable to abuse.
Common Cause President Jim Hulse said today the governor's latest disclosure deepens his concerns about the fund.
"It's another warning sign that the system is vulnerable to money from special interests from many directions," Hulse said from Reno.
Of the $71,000, about $45,000 was donated by the gaming industry, the most politically active force in Nevada politics. A half-dozen Las Vegas casinos contributed $5,000 apiece.
Gaming attorney Frank Schreck, one of the state's biggest political fund-raisers, is among the fund's trustees.
Urey said the trust was set up in 1996 to accommodate Miller's travels on behalf of the NGA.
"He recognized he would have considerable expenses relating to his leadership role of the governors," Urey said.
Urey said the governor did not want to burden the taxpayers with his travels.
Until that point, Urey added, Miller had been using campaign funds for much of his NGA traveling.
His campaign funds, however, began to run out in 1996, Urey said, because the governor stopped raising money. Miller is not eligible for re-election this year.
Records show the governor's office has $16,901 budgeted for travel outside Nevada for this fiscal year.
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