Are no gifts a good thing?
Is banning gifts from lobbyists and lobbyist employers to Oklahoma legislators and state officials a good thing?
Lobbyists have said buying meals for legislators gives them a chance to develop relationships and to have some time talk about bills or issues.
But are some legislators abusing the process? Meals paid for by lobbyists according to their reports filed with the state Ethics Commission seem reasonable, costing between $5 to $35. But lobbyists also have reported spending anywhere from $80 to more than $200 for a dinner for a legislator.
Ethics commissioners have been studying this issue the past couple years. They’ve reduced this year the maximum amount that can be spent on legislators and their employees and state officials – from $300 a year to $100 a year.
A proposal submitted to the commission calls for banning all “things of value,” which includes meals, tickets to concerts and sporting events and gifts. A public hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at the city hall in downtown Ponca City.
In Minnesota, legislators, state officials and state employees are banned from receiving most gifts.
Gary Goldsmith, executive director of the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, said his agency, which is comparable to Oklahoma’s ethics commission, did not have to increase staffing after the rule took effect, although there was “a little additional load” to address questions. His agency totals nine employees, but is down one because of budget cuts.
The Oklahoma Ethics Commission has seven employees; its duties are similar to Minnesota’s agency in that it is in charge of campaign finance and regulations at the state level, public disclosure of financial interests of public officials and lobbying regulations and disclosure.
The rule is so well known now that “we have very few enforcement actions,” he said.
Legislators and officials usually call if they have a question about whether a gift would be acceptable, he said. The rule prohibits lobbyists or a lobbyist employer from giving gifts to officials, but there are exceptions, such as a plaque with a resale value of $5 or less or a trinket or memento which costs $5 or less.
As in Oklahoma, the obligation to report gifts falls on lobbyists.
“We assume that there is good compliance because people aren’t reporting violations,” Goldsmith said. “We also assume there’s good compliance because we still get lots of calls about gifts, even little tiny things that might be given. We don’t get filed formal complaints, hardly ever, about the gift prohibits.
“There’s an attitude out there that we have this prohibition in place and we all understand it and we’re bound by it and we don’t have any choice in the matter,” Goldsmith said.
What do you think?
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
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Comments
I am a social worker and our code of ethics prohibits the taking of any gifts. Why shouldn’t an elected official be held to the same strandards? The should!
Oklahoma’s recent history is rich with corruption. Was it caused by free lunches? I doubt it, however the free lunches are just the start.
Both my wife and I cannot understand why any gifts,lunches,tickets or
any form of “gratuitous bribery iis acceptable to legislators or any state
employee! This activity should be banned and anyone caught
participating in this should be removed from their job or office!