The toy gun is among nearly $280,000 in gifts lobbyists showered on Utah policymakers, including trips to Las Vegas and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., tickets to Jazz games, sporting events, rock concerts, golf outings, plaques, flowers, contact lenses, legal advice, and tens of thousands of dollars of food.
No legislator received more lobbyist largesse than Sen. Mike Dmitrich, according to an analysis of lobbyist reports by The Salt Lake Tribune. The Price Democrat took $6,910 in gifts, including a trip in October to Fort Lauderdale and golf at a Boca Raton course.
The $1,431 Florida excursion was paid for by David Meehan, a lobbyist for Geo Care Inc., a Florida company that for the past several years has been urging the Legislature to privatize part of the Utah State Mental Hospital - a proposal that is expected to be considered again this year.
Dmitrich was joined on the trip by Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, who received $4,999 in lobbyist benefits, the second highest gift total in 2007.
In addition to the Florida trip, Dmitrich received prime seats for 11 Utah Jazz games - although he donated tickets for one game to a raffle for legislative staff.
Dmitrich doesn't see a problem with accepting the perks.
"I go to all the Jazz games I can," Dmitrich said. "I guess ethics belong to the individual - what he thinks is right is right. I can honestly say, I don't think I've ever been swayed by anything other than what I thought was right."
But Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, says the money spent entertaining Utah lawmakers fosters a public perception that special interests are buying favors. In the past, Jones has advocated for strict limits on lobbyist gifts.
"There's no question that large donations buy access. I mean there's no question," she said. "Whether it influences people, I just think it has the appearance that it could, and I would love to see more stringent reform that was fully understood by everyone."
In November, however, Jones was one of five lawmakers who attended a Billy Joel concert at EnergySolutions Arena. Jones, who went along with her son and his date, said she had meant to reimburse the Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield lobbyist who paid for the suite but forgot.
"That was a total oversight," said Jones, who said she wrote a $388 check to the lobbyist for the price of the tickets on Friday. "I sinned and I will be even more careful than I normally am."
All told, lobbyists spent $279,000 lobbying Utah legislators and executive branch officials, the disclosures show. But because the recipients of perks costing less than $50 - Dayton's bazooka, for example - aren't reported by name, it is impossible to say who receives 60 cents out of every dollar spent trying to affect public policy.
Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, says it's perfectly appropriate for lobbyists to pick up the bill for things like travel or educational meetings. He points to a recent trip he took to Philadelphia to meet with senior executives of Comcast as a prime example.
"I think it's appropriate for legislators to listen to points of view wherever those points of view are coming from," he said, adding that he is constantly taking phone calls and e-mails from constituents.
It was important that he learn about telecommunication, Bramble said, because his district is grappling with what to do with iProvo, a project designed to deliver Internet access to every Provo home and ultimately be self-sufficient, but it continues to cost the city $2 million a year. Bramble has also sponsored legislation allowing Internet companies to go to the state, rather than cities, to get permission to build network services.
"I don't think anyone gets more or less access based on whether it's over lunch or over the telephone," Bramble said. "I think my constituents would appreciate the fact that I'm spending my time trying to understand the issues better."
Bramble also received $535 worth of tickets to Jazz basketball games and Washington Nationals baseball games, and $377 worth of golf, including $150 worth of golf in July at the Wyncote Golf Club in Oxford, Pa., one of the premier courses in the east, paid for by cigarette-maker R.J. Reynolds.
Legislators weren't the only recipients of lobbyist gifts. Thousands of dollars of meals, football tickets and holiday gifts were also given to state employees. That includes Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, even though Huntsman had signed an executive order prohibiting such benefits. A spokeswoman said there is an exemption for food and perishable items.
Dmitrich says when he's sitting courtside at Jazz games he's there to enjoy the game. Some, like Paul Rogers, who lobbies for Allied Waste and 1-800 Contacts, among others, aren't as much fun to attend games with because they always want to talk shop, he said, and he has to tell them to save it until after the game.
Now approaching his 40th legislative session, Dmitrich says lobbying has changed significantly since he was first elected. There are more hired guns in the halls of the Capitol now, and members are more aware of the public perception of legislators hobnobbing with lobbyists. But it's never been a problem for folks he represents.
"Most of my constituents know that I golf and know that I go to Jazz games," he said, "and I've never taken any sh-- from them for it."
Sen. Mike Dmitrich
* TOTAL: $6,910
* JAZZ GAMES: $2,586
* MEALS: $1,871
* TRAVEL/
LODGING: $1,431
* GOLF: $350
* MISC.: $672
Rep. David Clark
* TOTAL: $2,704
* MEALS: $811
* JAZZ GAMES/ ENTERTAINMENT: $789
* GOLF: $507
* TRAVEL/
LODGING: $390
* MISC.: $207
The biggest takers
When it comes to accepting lobbyists' perks, here are the Utah lawmakers at the top of the heap in each chamber:
Source: Lobbyist reports Others getting lots of lobbyist loot
Behind Sen. Mike Dmitrich and Rep. David Clark, here are the other legislators in each chamber who have accepted the most gifts from lobbyists:
Sen. Gene Davis
* TOTAL: $4,999
* TRAVEL/LODGING: $1,431
* DISCOUNT LEGAL SERVICES: $1,260
* MEALS: $996
* JAZZ GAMES/ENTERTAINMENT: $720
* GOLF: $169
* MISC.: $423
Sen. Curt Bramble
* TOTAL: $4,197
* MEALS: $1,783
* TRAVEL: $867
* JAZZ GAMES/ENTERTAINMENT: $535
* GOLF: $377
* MISC.: $635
House Speaker Greg Curtis
* TOTAL: $2,182
* MEALS: $1,065
* JAZZ GAMES/ENTERTAINMENT: $331
* GOLF: $174
* MISC.: $612
Rep. Jim Dunnigan
* TOTAL: $2,035
* MEALS: $1,024
* JAZZ/FOOTBALL GAMES: $785
* MISC.: $226
Source: Lobbyist reports
