Pa. lawmakers reported $67,000 in freebies in '09

HARRISBURG - Lawmakers last year got their hands on tickets to the Super Bowl, orchestra concerts, the Philadelphia Flower Show, and Phillies games - all without opening their wallets.

Those tickets are among at least $67,000 worth of freebies that state lawmakers accepted last year, according to statements of financial interest on file with the state Ethics Commission.

But that figure doesn't include more than $18,000 in food, facilities rental, and other help that lobbyists provided for lawmaker-hosted events, such as fairs for older residents in their districts.

Thirty-eight of the state's 253 senators and representatives disclosed receiving gifts such as yacht club memberships and travel to places as near as Philadelphia and as far as Rwanda.

State Ethics Commission records suggest, however, that lawmakers accepted fewer and less-valuable gifts last year than they did five years ago. Their new behavior had its genesis in 2005, when an outraged electorate ousted many state legislators after the lawmakers gave themselves hefty raises in a surprise middle-of-the-night vote that July.

That year, lawmakers reported receiving $93,349 in gifts, travel, and hospitality - including golf outings, trips to Taipei, ski passes, and tickets to Pennsylvania State University football games, Philadelphia 76ers basketball games, and Pocono Raceway events.

State officials are required to report tangible gifts of more than $250 per year from any entity. They also must report transportation, lodging, and hospitality valued at more than $650.

Government watchdog Barry Kauffman said those thresholds should be lower. He said they now leave plenty of leeway for lobbyists to provide gifts that never need to be publicly disclosed.

"You can buy a lot of stuff for less than $250: crystal globes, golf clubs. There are a lot of little things you can do for less than $250," said Kauffman, director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, which advocates government accountability and fiscal responsibility.

An examination of lobbyist expenditure reports supports his contention.

Those reports must include the total amount spent on gifts, travel, hospitality, and entertainment for state officials and their families.

Verizon Wireless, for example, provided $9,786 worth of gifts, travel, and hospitality to state officials and their families last year, according to its expenditure report. However, since no one official received more than $250 worth of gifts or $650 worth of travel, lodging, and hospitality, the recipients' names did not have to be disclosed.

Lobbyists bestow some of their most lavish gifts on legislators with the most control over the state's purse strings - the chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Jake Corman (R., Centre) received the single most valuable gift of all those reported last year by lawmakers: a $4,000 Super Bowl trip, courtesy of the Pittsburgh law firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. The firm's lobbyists represent a variety of clients including utility companies, hospitals, wine and beer distributors, and banks.

House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans (D., Philadelphia) was entertained by an assortment of groups including Peco Energy Co., which provided four tickets to a Philadelphia Eagles-New York Giants football game plus transportation and meals at the lavish Pennsylvania Society retreat in December at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, meanwhile, provided two tickets to its anniversary concert and ball, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art provided two tickets to the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce William Penn Awards Dinner. Together, all of those perks are worth $5,263, Evans reported.

Those gifts were exceptions, said Johnna Pro, spokeswoman for Evans.

"He's not one to be out to dinner with lobbyists all the time. That's not something he does," she said.

Sen. John Pippy (R., Moon) received the most-generous perks last year, including trips to Rwanda, New Orleans, Chicago, and Aspen, Colo.

Together the trips were valued at $16,588. They were provided by the Aspen Institute, the Legislative Leadership Institute Academy of Foreign Affairs, and Midwest Generation, an Illinois company that uses Pennsylvania coal.

None of the trips was a luxurious vacation, and none involved direct lobbying for specific legislation, Pippy said.

In Rwanda, he - along with Republican and Democratic lawmakers from other states - met with genocide survivors, discussed the country's court system, and met with its leaders. Pippy, who is in the Army Reserves and has served in Kuwait and Iraq, said he had an interest in international relations and war-ravaged nations.

In Aspen and New Orleans, Pippy participated in bipartisan think-tank sessions on U.S. relations with Asia and the Middle East. In Chicago, he discussed economic development and job creation with leaders of Midwest Generation.