Taxpayers spent $10K for hotel during conference

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) _ Taxpayers paid more than $10,000 for a dozen members of the South Carolina House to stay at a hotel in downtown Charleston during a national conference last September. The Post and Courier of Charleston reports Monday that nine Republicans and three Democrats stayed at Charleston Place Hotel during the 2011 National Speakers Conference. The five-day event was held at the hotel. The information came through an open records request. Legislators say the gathering of state House speakers and their staff from across the country was a boon for the tourism-dependent city. The dozen South Carolina legislators included House Speaker Bobby Harrell. The Charleston Republican says he agreed to be president last year of the nonpartisan State Legislative Leaders Foundation if it held its annual conference in his home city.