This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Many Utahns, including us, applauded when the Legislature tightened its ethics laws in 2010, even though lawmakers did it under pressure from an initiative petition. But that reform left some big loopholes through which lobbyists can continue to wine and dine legislators without reporting what the professional persuaders spent or which lawmakers partook.
Under the definitions of the Lobbyist Disclosure and Regulation Act, as amended in 2010, an expenditure that a lobbyist must report does not include food or beverage that is provided at an event to which all members of the Legislature are invited. The same exemption applies if all members of a committee, task force or party caucus are invited. Also exempted are all members "who are attending a meeting of a national organization whose primary purpose is addressing general legislative policy … ."
So, as The Tribune reported the other day, if a gaggle of legislators gathers at a meeting of the Council of State Governments in some far-flung city, a corporation or lobbyist can throw a big social event, say, on a catamaran off the shores of Hawaii, and there's little accountability.
The point of reforms that banned lobbyists from providing Jazz tickets or free golf to legislators is not so much that lawmakers can be bought for the price of a ticket. It's that such outings give special interests access to the people's representatives that ordinary folks don't have.
One lobbyist quoted in the Tribune story was quite frank about that. He said that throwing social events at national conferences wasn't about buying dinners. "It's about policy time with them. … I come because I want to be ahead of the game. I want to make sure I'm not just one of the thousand people [at the Capitol] on interim day or during a special session." In other words, he doesn't want to be part of the common rabble. He wants exclusive time to put his case for a client to lawmakers.
Legislators often bristle when someone claims that they provide special access to lobbyists. They say they are open to any constituent on an equal footing. But most constituents can't take the time and expense to travel to national meetings and throw lavish social events in order to get the ear of lawmakers.
Besides, it's just human nature to give a sympathetic ear to someone who is your host. Lobbyists play on that.
Inviting all the legislators who are attending a national conference or all the members of a committee, caucus or task force to a soiree doesn't change that dynamic one whit. That's why such spending should be banned.