Utahns divided on gift-giving
Nearly equal numbers say '07 bill does, doesn't go far enough
The Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll shows that 49 percent of all Utahns believe there should be more disclosure of gifts, while 44 percent said the new bill probably goes far enough.
A third of Utahns said the new law definitely does not go far enough — more disclosure is needed.
A Dan Jones & Associates survey taken last month showed that 76 percent of Utahns either wanted all lobbyist gifts banned or wanted to know which legislators were taking gifts valued at more than $10.
The new law takes a small step, supporters acknowledge, toward more disclosure.
Legislators in both the House and Senate who said they want even more disclosure said any greater disclosure and the bill would have failed.
Had the new law been in effect this session it would have increased the reporting by name of a legislator who took a gift from 11 percent of all gifts given to just 13 percent, a study by the Morning News of recently filed lobbyist financial reports showed this past week.
Few names came attached to those meals, because the food cost less than $50 in one day — the legislator-reporting-threshold in the current law.
But SB246 exempts the reporting of meals under $50 — just as the current law does.
Such a large loophole means there won't be many more legislators named in future lobbyists' gift-giving reports under the new law, the study found.
SB246 does say that all sporting tickets given must be accompanied with the name of the legislator who took them, regardless of how much the ticket costs.
Some legislators said that requirement was aimed at nam- ing leg- islators who take Jazz tickets.
However, the lower- bowl tickets at Utah Jazz games al- ready cost more than $50. And since lobbyists don't expect a legislator to take an upper-bowl ticket (at less than $50), then lobbyists who were taking lawmakers to Jazz games were already naming the legislators who took the more expensive tickets.
But the new law will likely capture less expensive sports tickets — like attendance at college and university games or at professional hockey, soccer and arena football games whose tickets are usually under $50 each.
Still, the newspaper's study found that only around $150 worth of basketball tickets given by Utah State University during the 2007 Legislature — which under the old law were anonymous — would have come with the legislators' names attached under the new law.
You can be the first to comment on this story.