Hartford - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Thursday reimbursed People magazine $1,234.62 for being the publication's guest at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner after a potential gubernatorial rival questioned whether the trip violated ethics laws.

Malloy said he wrote a personal check to reimburse the magazine for its expenses and to "head off" the controversy.

"This has taken on a life of its own and I just thought it was better to end it," Malloy told reporters following an afternoon education rally, adding how he wanted to shift focus to more important public policy issues.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, a Republican from Fairfield, issued a news release Wednesday claiming Malloy violated state ethics law by allowing a corporation to pay for his trip. People, which invited Malloy as a guest to the annual soiree, is owned by Time Warner Inc.

McKinney called on Malloy to provide all documents and correspondence pertaining to his trip to Saturday's annual gathering of journalists, government officials, politicians, media personalities and celebrities.

The governor's spokesman, Andrew Doba, said Malloy's administration is confident the magazine's payment would have been proper under Connecticut's ethics law, saying Malloy attended the event in his official capacity as governor. Malloy's legal counsel, Luke Bronin, said Wednesday that the governor's office has been told a nonrestricted donor - someone who is not a lobbyist, seeking business with the state or regulated by the state - may pay for a public official's travel expenses to events that "facilitate state action or functions."

"The governor's office accepted People magazine's gift in order to relieve taxpayers of the cost. Instead of shifting the cost to the taxpayers, the governor is personally paying the cost," Doba said in a statement.

In a statement Thursday, McKinney recognized that Malloy had begun the process of making amends by reimbursing the magazine.

"But he and his staff continue to set a bad example for elected officials and state government by defending his actions," he said. "His dismissive attitude toward state ethics laws sets a dangerous precedent."

McKinney said he was looking forward to the advisory opinion from the Office of State Ethics that Malloy's office requested Wednesday. But Doba confirmed they're not following through with the request for an opinion, saying "we believe this resolves the issue."

McKinney downplayed Malloy's official role at the event, likening it "talking up Connecticut over champagne and hors d'oeuvres," but Doba said the governor "engaged in substantive discussions with numerous senior officials." Doba ticked off a list of conversations Malloy had on Saturday, including a discussion of Connecticut's Superstorm Sandy relief plan with Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and a strategy for pursuing federal gun control legislation with House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

Malloy said the event was also an opportunity for him to discuss the state's efforts to boost its digital media industry.