But if members of the Legislature say that their minds are not influenced by time spent in the presence of those who bought them presents, then it is only reasonable to ask when they plan on returning to their home planet.

The House-passed measure from Rep. Jeff Alexander does democracy a favor by requiring the public filing of the dollars and cents. Better, it should allow some hint as to the even more crucial factor of hours and minutes.

The majority leader's House Bill 101 would lower from $50 to $5 the level at which any gift from a lobbyist to a lawmaker has to be listed in that lobbyist's regular reports. It was approved overwhelmingly by the House last week and is now before the Senate.

The bill was criticized by members of both parties and from both sides of the question. Some said the reporting threshold was being set so low as to catch nearly everything that changes hands on Capitol Hill - which is, of course, the whole point.

Others, led by Democratic Rep. Pat Jones, wanted to skip all the paperwork and just ban gifts to lawmakers that were worth more than $5. Well-intentioned, that, but also requiring two pages of exemptions that would allow lawmakers to continue functioning with family, friends and employers.

Alexander's approach doesn't keep everyone's hands clean. But it would help identify the fingerprints that are all over various bills and executive rules by creating a useful paper trail that would show not only how much money was involved but also what it went for.

That matters because the money spent on a a meal, greens fees or Jazz tickets is of much less value than the amount of time someone has within a lawmaker's earshot, not only to sell their point of view but also to ingratiate themselves as reasonable, and generous, people.

Anyone who is never turned by hearing one side of the argument presented in detail by a friend and hearing the other side put by a total stranger in a hallway, if at all, is the sort of superhuman who should be making all of our laws.

Sadly, there are not too many of those around. That's why all the generosity aimed at our flesh-and-blood legislators should be public record.