Key lawmakers and a University of Hawai'i regent are urging UH officials to disclose the full list of people who traveled at state expense to the Sugar Bowl as the state Ethics Commission is making its own inquiries into the controversy.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, state Rep. Mark Takai and UH Regent Kitty Lagareta said the university should release an unedited list of the more than 550 people who attended the Jan. 1 bowl game in New Orleans, which cost state taxpayers an estimated $2 million.

Separately, the Ethics Commission has formally requested the entire list from the university to see if any state employees received "unwarranted advantages or special treatments," said Dan Mollway, the commission's executive director.

"We just thought there was enough there that we should take a look, get the list, find out who went and find out if it was justified," said Mollway.

The university released a partial list of its official Sugar Bowl travel party on May 23.

The partial list was released minutes after The Advertiser filed a lawsuit in state Circuit Court seeking the full list and more than two months after the newspaper made its first request for the names.

The university blacked out the names of 45 people on the list, saying it was done at the request of the workers' union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

At least six names were excluded from the list after they reimbursed UH for their travel expenses.

The Advertiser previously reported that UH Associate Athletic Director Carl Clapp told a group of 20 to 25 UH staffers they had the option of keeping their names off the list by reimbursing the school.

University spokesman Gregg Takayama said yesterday school officials are cooperating with the Ethics Commission. He said UH will turn over all the names of people who attended the Sugar Bowl at university expense.

Takayama added that the school wants to release all the names to the public but needs approval from its attorneys to do so.

"We would like to see it released publicly," Takayama said. "It's a matter of if and when our lawyers approve it."

Mollway said he met with UH officials — including Clapp, Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw, UH attorney Presley Pang and then-Athletic Director Herman Frazier — on Dec. 20 to discuss the travel policy for the bowl game.

Ethics rules typically forbid the use of state funds to pay travel expenses of spouses and children, but UH said social events sponsored by the Sugar Bowl, the NCAA and the Western Athletic Conference required participation by the university officials and their spouses.

Mollway said he was satisfied with UH's rationale for paying for spouses' travel expenses. But he said UH officials told him that the school would not pay for the travel costs of children.

"It all seemed above board and we were very satisfied that everything was going to be done carefully," Mollway said.

"What happened recently is that there have been some questions about who went or whether it was for a legitimate state purpose."

The Georgia Bulldogs beat the Warriors, 41-10.

Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said she sees no legal reason the university can withhold the records since it involves state money.

She said UH is still bound to disclose the names of people who repaid the university since the issue still involves the use of state funds because the school would essentially be providing a loan.

"After all, it's university funds or university property in some form or another," she said.

"If it's considered to be a perk or bonus, they have to disclose it. If it's pure favoritism or a discretionary or arbitrary (award), people are entitled to an explanation."

Takai, D-34th (Newtown, Waiau, Pearl City), predicted that the state courts will order the university to release the documents.

Since state taxpayer money was used to pay for school employees and their family to fly free to the Sugar Bowl, the issue clearly involves public records, he said.

Takai believes that the problem arose because the university did not have a written travel policy of who gets to go to a bowl game.

Such a policy, which would be subject to public comment and regents' approval, would have helped the university avoid the type of "questions and terrible decision-making that followed the Warriors being invited to the Sugar Bowl," Takai said.

"It was as if they were creating policy on the fly," he said. "I have said publicly many times that I believe that UH erred in sending some UH employees, and the spouses and children of workers."

During a UH Board of Regents meeting last week, Lagareta urged UH administrators to disclose the names in the UH travel party, saying the problem has become a bigger headache for the university than it is worth.

She noted that the university's reputation for transparency has been undercut by its actions regarding "the disclosure of this frankly stupid list."

"It's not even who went and who didn't go. It's why can't we be open about it?" Lagareta said. "It doesn't make sense."