Lobbyist gift ban supported by panel

The House Ethics Committee Friday voted to ban most lobbyist gifts to legislators.

But it is more likely that more such gifts will be disclosed, not banned. The committee also approved a bill that has already been approved by the Senate which would disclose meals over $25 and other "gifts" over $10.

Rep. Chris Johnson, D-Salt Lake, said the best way to reclaim citizen confidence in the independence of legislative decision-making is to just ban lobbyist gifts valued at over $5.

"My constituents are crystal clear on this, it's not even close," said Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake. "They say 'Don't accept gifts' from lobbyists."

Johnson's HB213 passed the committee unanimously.

But SB156 by Senate Assistant Majority Whip Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, has a better chance of becoming law. That's because it has been the Senate in recent years that has balked on lobbyist gift bills, and Bell's gift disclosure bill has already passed that body.

In addition, GOP leaders in both houses say the next step should be further disclosing gifts, not banning any gifts.

The committee — which unlike other standing committees is made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats — also approved a bill by Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, that would significantly limit how former legislators and statewide elected officials, like the governor, can spend leftover campaign funds.

And committee members approved HJR14 by Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem, that would require legislators to take online ethics training courses.

Bell's bill would lower the threshold for reporting, by the accepting legislator's name, of a gift. The current level is $50. Bell moves that to $10 for a non-meal and $25 for a meal.

Several legislators spoke at length how lawmakers don't sell their votes for a free lunch. They said they often have to meet with citizens and lobbyists at lunchtime throughout the year, and some legislators can't afford to buy lunches "two or three times a week."

A Deseret News study found that in 2006 about $250,000 was spent by lobbyists entertaining the 104 part-time legislators.

But Bell said such numbers are misconstrued by the media. Much of that comes in meals or entertainment offered to the Legislature as a whole — and for which no one really believes lawmakers are influenced at all.

He said he and others are concerned when they see a legislator sitting on the front row of a Jazz game or are given a free trip to view a lobbyist's business operations. And what an individual legislator accepts is key, Bell says, not what is offered to groups of lawmakers.

Bell's bill exempts from reporting gifts given to the whole Legislature, a standing or interim committee or a party caucus in either body.

E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com