By RAY HENRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA - High-ranking insurance regulators in Georgia accepted $100-per-head meals and a round of golf from the industry they are supposed to monitor.
That spending is legal, though other state agencies discourage it.
Financial reports show Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens and two staffers attended an annual convention last month held by the Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia at Amelia Island in Florida.
A lobbyist reported spending about $350 on meals for Hudgens and his wife.
More unusual was the spending on regulatory staffers. The organization paid about $830 to cover meals and entertainment for Steve Manders, who works as the state's director of insurance products review.
That includes more than $400 for a meal with Manders, his wife and two daughters and a $123 game of golf.