New Lobbying Gift database
We’ve added a new lobbyist gift database to the Your Right to Know page, just weeks before the new legislative session starts. You’ll find it in the first column under “Data.” (A direct link is here.)
You can search by lawmaker, staffer or official for gifts from lobbyists and their clients from 2006 to 2008. The database uses information filed with the state Ethics Commission.
To help you get an idea of what’s in there, here’s a list of the Top 20 gift-givers from 2006 to 2008:
Lobbying Gift Totals Top 20
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And here’s the Top 20 recipients in the same time period, although a few of them have since left office:
Lobbying Gifts Top Lawmakers
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It’ll be interesting to see the effects of new rules from last July that now put the gift limit at $100 per lawmaker or staffer in each calendar year. The previous limit was $300.
Meanwhile, there’s talk of putting even more limits on gifts. My Capitol colleagues have the latest on that effort here.
(Full disclosure: My wife, Jennifer, is a former reporter who is now press secretary for the Speaker of the House. She shows up in the lobbying gift database a few times under her maiden name, Mock.)
–Paul
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