The big story in Albany last week involved questions about state officials' use of state vehicles and security detail when they're traveling to political events.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno traded accusations that the other has abused their access to state vehicles, including helicopters, as well as state police escorts once on the ground.

It appears that both sides are defending their actions by saying that the trips in question also had legitimate state business purposes. It just so happened that they were also in close proximity to fundraising events.

Unfortunately, it appears as though that justification is good enough to pass muster with the state Ethics Commission.

A commission opinion issued in 1995, based on an analysis of similar circumstances, found that the ethics law only requires that some sort of legitimate public business is going on at some point on a trip.

“As long as the trip included a bona fide public purpose, the ethics laws did not require reimbursement for those portions of the trip that were political in nature,” the ethics opinion stated.

Spitzer and Bruno aren't the first to abuse this loophole. Former Govs. Mario Cuomo and George Pataki loved using state aircraft for political gain.

The problem with the ethics law is that it's too easy to abuse. The only thing politicians need to do is come up with some sort of public purpose - however phony it may seem - and they can have their free ride on a taxpayer-funded helicopter to one of their fundraisers.

This story illustrates the need for strengthening the state's ethics laws, which are weak in many areas, not just travel reimbursement policy. But that's a good place to start. Make politicians pay for their own travels to fundraisers - it would be one way to get the ridiculous spending on campaigns under control, too.

If ethics law reform can be achieved, then some good can come out of all this childish bickering between Bruno and Spitzer this summer.