Utah House Bill 267, which was approved by the House last week and sent to the Senate for consideration, would change the way the Legislature and lobbyists do business. And it would change it for the better.

No more presents on lawmakers' doorsteps. No more complimentary concert tickets or free seats at sporting events, unless they're really, really cheap seats. And no more long, leisurely rounds of golf where lobbyists bond with legislators while pitching proposals from the sand traps -- unless lawmakers pay their own way.

The bill would wisely limit gifts, now capped at $50, to $10 or less. That means lawmakers and lobbyists will have to find more economical entertainment, maybe bowling.

While free meals are exempt from the limits, the measure, sponsored by House Majority Leader Kevin Garn, R-Layton, would also change the way lawmakers and lobbyists break bread. Think hamburgers instead of steaks, and water instead of wine. By requiring lobbyists to list the recipients of meals worth $10 or more on quarterly reports, the bill will force lawmakers who don't have the stomach to own up to these trysts to dine at fast-food joints.

The bill was approved by a 69-1 vote in the House, and the fact that it's sponsored in the Senate by Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, bodes well for passage in the upper house. It's refreshing to see that lawmakers, who once bristled at suggestions that they could be bought, no longer consider themselves above reproach.

But, while resigning lawmakers and lobbyists to food courts and bowling alleys and the nose-bleed section of stadiums is a good start, the bill doesn't go nearly far enough. There's no such thing as a free gift, or a free lunch. Lobbyists want something in return, and whether they get it or not, the public's perception that lobbyists are buying and lawmakers are selling will persist until a no-exceptions gift ban is put in place.

Citizens who covet good government would be wise to back this bill. But they should save their most ardent support for the ethics reform ballot initiative proposed by Utahns for Ethical Government, which would include a ban on all gifts except light refreshments of nominal value. After all, holding a public office should entitle lawmakers to a salary and the right to represent the people who elected them, and nothing more.

The Senate should pass this bill as a step in the right direction, while acknowledging that the journey toward ethical government is not yet complete.