In late November, for example, five lawmakers and their spouses attended the Billy Joel concert at EnergySolutions Arena. Tickets to see The Piano Man ran $97 apiece, and were paid for by Jennifer Cannaday, the lobbyist for Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

The Utah League of Credit Unions recently treated lawmakers to a movie night at The Gateway, with the cost running more than $5,000, according to the report filed by Scott Simpson, president of the league.

The credit unions may seek revisions in the upcoming legislative session to recently passed state laws that have made it more difficult for the member-owned banks to get chartered in Utah.

Simpson spent more lobbying the Utah legislators than any other lobbyist, shelling out a total of $15,548.

As of Thursday evening, spending totaled more than $194,000, and some of the state's big spenders have yet to report.

The state's electronic reporting system allows the reports to be filed any time before the midnight deadline.

The figure is about on par with the $228,668 that the Center For Public Integrity reported was spent on lobbying in 2006. That was an increase of about 66 percent over the prior year, the center reported.

Spencer Stokes, who lobbies for Utah credit unions, hospitals and Salt Lake County, among others, spent $12,839 on lobbying activities in 2007, ranking him among the top spenders in the state.

"In the last few years it has become more and more difficult to compete for legislators' time," Stokes said. "When they're out of session, the only time you can sit down and talk to legislators in most cases is breakfast, lunch or dinner."

And there were hundreds of breakfasts, lunches and dinners paid for by a bevy of hired guns, who reported everything from a couple bucks for a snack during a meeting to posh dinners at Quail Run and other premier restaurants.

Last month, Steve Proper, the lobbyist for Comcast and the Utah Cable and Telecommunications Association, paid $937 to treat seven legislators and their spouses to dinner while they were attending the American Legislative Exchange Council annual conference in Washington. He paid another $867 for Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble and his family to travel to Philadelphia to meet with corporate executives.

All told, Proper spent $12,073 on his lobbying activities. Golf was apparently another favorite pastime, with thousands of dollars of greens fees reported for courses from Florida to Boston to Las Vegas.

The reports, however, don't tell the whole story, since the lawmakers who received a gift from a lobbyist only have to be named if the gift is worth $50 or more. As a result, only about 40 cents on every dollar spent is fully reported.

Also, some lobbyists file deadline reports lowballing their spending only to file amended disclosures later with larger amounts.