"If I was in business -- which I am, for the state of Mississippi -- I couldn't justify (keeping the state jet). I sold it ... For me to compete with the (Louisiana Gov.) Bobby Jindals of the world, I do have to hustle, and go meet with some international partners. But the best way I can think to put it is that if you're going to go have a vacation and make it look like work, that just doesn't work any more. Whenever I travel, I assure you I come back exhausted ... Sure, we want to be involved in international business, particularly areas like Japan, but we have to make sure we're not wasting taxpayers' dollars on travel. That's the bottom line."

-- Gov. Phil Bryant

"All travel is not bad travel. There are times when state officials need to be traveling and by most accounts (former) Gov. Barbour traveled a lot, but he had a lot of results to show for it ... Of those 300 employees who did travel out of the country, were each and every one of those trips justified for the benefit of the state and its taxpayers? That's a question that needs to be answered ... Those are the kind of hard questions I think you will see this Joint Legislative Budget Committee asking."

-- Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves

"I can certainly understand the need for some (out-of-country) travel. Case in point: Gov. Barbour and MDA going to Japan to recruit Toyota or Nissan. This amount of travel really raises a red flag in my mind, especially in tough economic times ... With this amount of volume, I'm curious about the locations and the type of conferences and events."

-- State Auditor Stacey Pickering

"It certainly seems excessive. I can't imagine a justification for that much travel out of the country when the technology we have now should allow for video conferencing and other ways to participate in meetings or training. Businesses and families have had to cut back on their travel."

-- Forest Thigpen, Mississippi Center for Public Policy

"Why would all these agencies need to go out of the country? They could be down here at the Convention Center in Biloxi ... Every penny counts. Every dollar counts and we need to continue to curtail spending. I think our chairman will be having us look at all of this and I know he also wants to look into the amount agencies are spending on advertising."

-- State Rep. Carolyn Crawford, R-Pass Christian, vice chair of the House Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee

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What people are saying about Mississippi travel