Utah's lobbyist gift reform maybe not so significant

SALT LAKE CITY — Despite Utah legislators' claim that they took large steps in lobbyist gift-giving reforms this year, a Deseret News analysis of new lobbyist disclosure reports finds that a new reform bill they passed would ban just $1,100 of the $71,700 spent on lawmakers so far this year.

Also, half of all the money spent on meals for legislators during the first three months of the year — when the Legislature was in session — may not be reported at all in the future. That's because the Legislature exempted future reporting of food and drink that is offered to all legislators or large groups of them.

Still, that doesn't mean lobbying reform over the past two years has not had an effect. Lobbyist gift-giving to legislators decreased by about 20 percent this year after a 2009 reform law took effect.

Several lobbyists tell the newspaper that recent gift reforms have basically eliminated the giving of Utah Jazz tickets and other expensive gifts to legislators. Even expensive meals are rarely accepted by legislators now, the lobbyists say.

However, the newspaper also found if the lobbyist gift-ban restrictions found in a citizen initiative petition were in effect, 99 percent of the gifts given to legislators in January, February and March of this year would not have been allowed. The Utahns for Ethical Government initiative would ban all gifts to lawmakers except "light refreshments," which, the newspaper found, amounted to around only $1,500 in the 2010 Legislature.

The figures found in the newspaper's analysis "speak for themselves," said Kim Burningham, a former GOP Utah House member and chairman of Utahns for Ethical Government. By Thursday, the group's supporters must turn in 95,000 voter signatures in order to put the initiative on the November ballot.

"Any improvement in lobbyist giving is important," said Burningham, responding to the fact that lobbyist gift-giving is down by a fifth. "But clearly lobbyists continue to pour big money into legislators" gift-giving, he said, noting the $71,000 total. "We need to go a lot further in order to get citizen control of the Legislature."

The new lobbyist gift law, passed during the 2010 general session, takes effect May 11. It will ban all non-meal lobbyist gifts of more than $10, with a few exceptions.