The Salt Lake Organizing Committee is adamant that it broke no disclosure laws when it gave Olympic tickets to state lawmakers. Spokesman Lane Beattie may be right that the Boston Globe newspaper was off base for accusing SLOC of violating lobbyist disclosure laws.
OK, so legally everything may be fine. But what about ethically?
First of all, to say that the tickets were "free" is disingenuous, not to mention ludicrous. SLOC representatives make that claim based on the fact that the 100 tickets — which were high end, valued at $885 each — to the closing ceremonies they allotted to lawmakers and their spouses were among approximately 7,900 that had gone unsold. Since they were "surplus" a SLOC spokeswoman said, they had no value.
Oh, really? Tell that to the other 40,000 or so other spectators who paid $320 to $895 apiece for their seats at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The other problem associated with the matter is the idea that such gifts will have no influence on lawmakers. That, combined with the "free" argument, was SLOC's rationale for giving the tickets to lawmakers. As was pointed out by SLOC, the intent of the disclosure law is to identify gifts that might influence lawmakers. Since SLOC had no issues pending before the Legislature, it had nothing to gain by giving lawmakers tickets.
But what about the future? What if the Legislature needs to deal with some post-Olympic matters? And what about those now connected with SLOC who in the future may be lobbying the Legislature regarding other matters?
Even those organizations that have something to gain immediately make that claim — that they're basically only giving lawmakers Jazz tickets, etc. out of friendship and appreciation and not because they're trying to influence them in any way.
The only reason lawmakers receive Olympic tickets, Jazz tickets, etc. is that they are in a position of influence. After they have left the Legislature and are not in a position to make laws, they no longer receive such inducements, unless of course they are in another position of power.
Lawmakers should have rejected the tickets, and to the credit of some, not all of the 100 allotted to them were used.
However, a report in Wednesday's Deseret News shows that on average, the state's 104 lawmakers received gifts during the 2002 Legislature totaling an average of $1,654 each. That's $1,654 more than virtually all non-lawmakers received from SLOC and various lobbyists.
When will lawmakers realize that the only reason they receive such attention is that they're in a position to affect those plying them with gifts.
It is well past time the gift-giving and gift-receiving merry-go-round be shut down. The Legislature needs to place ethics and common sense above personal desires. Next year it needs to pass legislation that bans gifts.