Lobbyist disclosure law is hit and miss

Under Utah law, any person or entity, including corporations, can give any amount of money to a state candidate or officeholder. Utah is one of only five states that have no limits on campaign contributions.

It turned out the new law didn't make any difference in how Atkinson filed his latest report. He had only one expense — $150 in legislative meals for a June 16 banquet his health-insurance group sponsored.

Every year, his group names a legislator of the year from each house on health-care matters. This year, they were Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, and Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville.

Atkinson said he invited all 104 legislators to the banquet — as he always does — but only six, including Stephenson and Dunnigan, attended.

Because all lawmakers were invited, under the new rules, the lobbyist doesn't have to name those who attended, no matter what the meal cost.

However, Atkinson had no problem in naming attendees to the Deseret News. He didn't list them on the form because the law didn't require him to do so.

Spencer Hadley, deputy of administration for the Utah Elections Office, said several lobbyists have called to ask about the new rules and how they apply. They can be confusing.

Briefly put, Hadley explains the rules this way:

For any meal or beverage — any meal under $25 is listed by the cost only, no names of accepting legislators. Any meal over $25 comes listed with the cost and the name of the legislator who took it. However, there is an exception. If the entire Legislature, or one house, one caucus or one committee is invited (it doesn't matter how many lawmakers actually attend), the cost of the meal is listed, but not the names of those who attended.

For other gifts, any gift valued over $10 is reported with the accepting legislator's name. Any gift under $10 is listed by the cost only, and no name of the accepting legislator.

For any sports, art or cultural event, the cost of the ticket and legislator's name is listed, no matter the price of the ticket.

The size of one caucus or committee can be rather small. For example, there are only eight Senate Democrats. If they were all invited to an expensive meal at a fancy restaurant, the cost of the meal would be reported, but not those who attended.

The names of a few legislators who took gifts over $25 kept popping up in the new reports. And one event stands out: A number of legislators went to a Utah Business Coalition trap-shooting party on May 19th. However, it appears that the whole Legislature was invited, because the various lobbyists who hosted legislators at the shoot did not report any names of legislators who attended.

Finally, the tradition of some high-profile lobbyists traveling to out-of-state legislative events to entertain Utah lawmakers seems alive and well. Jay Magure, a 1-800 Contacts lobbyist, bought meals for three lawmakers — Sens. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem; Curt Bramble, R-Provo; and Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse — at an event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, last month. Each meal cost $30.33. Under the old rules, those lawmakers' names would not have been required to be listed along with the expense by the reporting lobbyist.

e-mail: bbjr@desnews.com