Texas lawmakers have multiple funds they can dip into to fund their travel. Our story published today looked at the bucket of money furnished by the state taxpayers.

But lawmakers' travel costs are routinely picked up by special interests or groups organizing the events. That kind of travel can be found in lawmakers' annual personal financial statements, posted online by Texas Watchdog. Check out the section on gifts -- that's Part 8 -- and the one on travel expenses for lawmakers speaking at events  --- that's Part 13.

In today's story looking at state senators' travel, we highlighted Houston Democratic Sen. Mario Gallegos' taxpayer-funded trip to a conference in Maui put on by the Calif.-based Pacific Policy Research Foundation. A handful of other lawmakers also took the trip, but not at taxpayer expense. Their bills were footed by the foundation and reported on their personal financial statements. One attendee, Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, even reported that the group gave him and his spouse a "snorkel cruise."

Lawmakers may also dip into campaign funds to pay for travel expenses.

Like Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, who reported using campaign money to fund her trip to the Maui conference. She also reported travel as a gift from the Pacific group on her personal financial statement.

Campaign finance records can be found online at the Texas Ethics Commission. If you're viewing the reports as PDFs, scan them to see if they contain a Schedule T, which candidates are supposed to fill out if they receive a contribution for travel outside Texas.

We encourage everyone to keep an eye on these records of officials' travel and to blog on what you find, or if you see something you'd like Texas Watchdog to look into, e-mail news@texaswatchdog.org.