From Deseret News archives:
Lawmakers gobble up freebies
Some, but by no means all, of those gifts will go bye-bye if the Legislature adopts the ethics reform measures suggested Monday by House GOP leaders.
The deadline for lobbyist and candidate filing was Monday at 5 p.m., although not all lobbyists filed on time.
Potential reform of gift rules is expected to be a hot issue at the upcoming session of the Legislature — in part because current rules have huge loopholes that make it difficult to determine who received gifts and what exactly the gifts were.
For example, only about 20 percent of the freebies are identified as being given to a specific legislator, since they only have to be identified when the lobbyist spends more than $50 per day on a legislator. Many gifts are just under that limit, or lawmakers sometimes pay for part of the gift to keep it under that threshold.
For example, Susan Kuziak, a lobbyist for the Utah Education Association, reported three meals with legislators that each cost $49.67 — so she did not report who the recipients were. Similarly, Jay Magure, a lobbyist for 1-800-CONTACTS, reported buying "food and beverage" for three legislators on the same day that came to $49.10 each, also under the legislative-by-name-reporting disclosure limit.
Further, lobbyists may not even describe the freebies provided well enough to know what was given, instead using vague terms such as "client visit," "education" or "entertainment." About 3 percent of disclosed freebies are described in such vague terms.
Food is the most popular gift given — whether it is feeding an entire party caucus lunch while talking to them or taking a few members to an exclusive restaurant. More than half of all the gifts were for food, or just over $90,000.
Lobbyists spent at least $28,000 on entertainment. That included at least $2,000 to take members to Utah Jazz games and to feed them while there. Eleven lawmakers were identified as accepting Jazz tickets.
At least another $1,100 was spent to take members to other sporting events, such as college football or basketball games. Universities often paid for that.
Lobbyists spent nearly $400 to take members trapshooting, but the total for each unnamed legislator involved was listed at $43.35. Lobbyists also spent more than $300 to take members golfing, although only two lawmakers were identified as receiving golf rounds: Rep. Todd Kiser, R-Sandy and Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace. All the other reported rounds of golf cost less than $50.
Among the lobbyists and groups that gave the most to lawmakers were: the Utah Beverage Association, $11,4713; Lincoln Shurtz, a lobbyist for the Utah League of Cities and Towns, $8,812; Micron lobbyist (and Utah Republican Party Chairman) Stan Lockhart, $8,935; and David Copeland, lobbyist for many groups, $6,616.
Among the legislators who took the most in identifiable gifts were: Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, $1,122; Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, $903; Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, $800; Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, $688; and Rep. Brad Last, R-St. George, $597.
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