Legislative swag baggers
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fter perusing the state's online lobbyist disclosure forms, the first question that springs to mind is: Do our state lawmakers ever pay for their own meals?
Have a look for yourself at https://secure.utah.gov/lobbyist/lobbysearch. It's enough to make you gasp -- immediately followed by an involuntary deepening of your cynicism regarding our elected leaders. More than half of the $279,000 worth of gifts, meals, travel, etc., given to lawmakers during 2007 is listed without the names of recipients attached. That's because lobbyists don't have to identify the receiver if the freebie is under $50.
You'll notice, as we did, that lots of gifts are listed as being worth $49.
Our opinion on this issue has been consistent over the years: Lawmakers and state executives should ban gifts, period. But since that's not likely to happen soon -- at least one lawmaker in an open meeting has tearfully defended the free meals and event tickets and rounds of golf as deserved compensation for time spent on state business and away from a loving family at home -- we have repeatedly requested that all gifts be reported, no matter the value.
But lawmakers are so wedded to their gifts -- along with their own anonymity -- that they refuse to do even this.
It's difficult to believe lawmakers when they say the gifts don't influence them. Of course they do. If they didn't, they'd give them up.
Who takes them? Just about everybody's mentioned in the reports as having received at least one freebie over the $50 reporting threshold. Some have even taken trips, and lots of them are wined and dined with spouses in tow -- maybe the way to a legislator's heart is through his or her spouse.
If lawmakers really don't believe their compensation is up to where it should be, they should ban the gifts and raise their own pay.
This won't happen in an election year, so don't look for anyone outside a newspaper editorial page to suggest such a thing in 2008, but this suggestion should be seriously considered.
Unfortunately, we are at a time in our state's history where people running for office -- local, county and state -- really don't do it just because they want to serve; almost everyone seems always to be asking for a little bit more return for the time they spend performing the public's business.
OK, then. If that's the way it has to be, give up the gifts and raise the pay. At least that way the only thing voters can complain about is incompetence -- graft, the situation we have right now, is a lot worse than being overpaid.
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