Oversight muddles gift-giving law

Call it ethics by mistake.

In adopting a new lobbyist gift law last session, Utah legislators apparently mistakenly banned their taking of tickets to sporting, recreational or artistic events valued at more than $50.

The intent of SB156 was not to ban gifts from lobbyists, whose job it is to influence lawmakers' votes.

"The sense of the Legislature was to more fully disclose" gifts from lobbyists, says the bill sponsor, Senate Majority Assistant Whip Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights. Banning expensive sports/arts tickets was not part of the plan, he said.

Some legislators want to ban all gifts from lobbyists, but bills doing that routinely die in the Legislature.

Under the old rules, any gift valued at more than $50 and provided in one day was supposed to carry the accepting legislator's name. However, over time some lobbyists found ways around that law.

Under SB156, which became law in May, lobbyists are to name any legislator who took a non-meal/beverage gift of more than $10, and a meal/beverage gift of more than $25, or any sporting, recreational or arts ticket.

And even then, if a meal/beverage was offered to all the Legislature, or all members of either the House or Senate, or a study or interim committee or a task force, or a political caucus, then the price was to be listed, but not the accepting lawmakers' names.

Even though Bell's aim was to more fully inform citizens about which legislators where taking gifts from lobbyists, a Deseret News analysis of gift taking under the new law found more than 75 percent of gifts still did not carry the accepting lawmakers' names — about the same percentage as found in previous years under the old rules.

Bells says one goal of his bill was to dampen, or generally discourage, gift taking by legislators, gift giving by lobbyists.

And although unintended, that may now be the case for expensive ticketed events.

The law specifically defines as a "gift" any sporting, recreational or artistic ticket. Such tickets had not been defined as a "gift" before, state officials say.

And in another section of the old statute, it says that legislators may accept the occasional "gift" from a lobbyist, as long as the gift is not valued at more than $50.

Officials in the Utah Election Office, which is tasked with enforcing the new lobbyist gift law, say that wording means to them that legislators and members of the executive branch can't accept, for example, a Jazz ticket valued at more than $50.

Some Utah governors and legislators have occasionally enjoyed courtside seats at Jazz games costing more than $400. And a number of lower-bowl Jazz tickets have face values greater than $50.

What impact this interpretation of SB156 may have is yet unclear.