SACRAMENTO — About 15 to 20 California lawmakers aren't in the state Capitol this week worrying about hammering out a compromise on healthcare reform.

They're at a $300-a-night Maui resort, the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea, rubbing elbows with business and labor leaders and lobbyists pushing legislation.

Watchdog groups say the gathering smacks of good-old-boy politics.

Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Tustin is among those attending. He says the retreat provides for great discussions on topics important to the state, including energy, healthcare and water. "It's extremely valuable," Ackerman said.

Other lawmakers said the conference allows for a more open atmosphere than in Sacramento.

Lawmakers began participating in the weeklong retreats years ago. Initially, they were sponsored by the state prison guard's union. Now lawmakers have a nonprofit to keep the annual retreats going.

Lawmakers attend policy meetings in the afternoon and have the rest of the day free. Most pay for the trips with campaign funds, which lawmakers can legally use to travel to conferences with a political or governmental purpose.

Among those attending are lawmakers and representatives of Chevron, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Indian gambling tribes, environmental groups and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, who has recently been criticized for using campaign money to fund lavish European trips, is not attending.

There is also criticism in California that Hawai'i was picked for the meeting. For Hawai'i, it's a familiar accusation: Mainland lawmakers are rarely criticized for attending a convention in Cleveland or Seattle, but if the event is in Hawai'i, the insinuation is that real work will always take a back seat to sun and surf.