What’s too much?

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December 6, 2009

Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, and Kokomo Tribune The Kokomo Tribune Sun Dec 06, 2009, 12:37 AM EST

THE ISSUE: Favors from lobbyists

OUR VIEW: If you have an opinion on the practice, now would be a good time to let our legislators know.

Should members of the Indiana General Assembly be allowed to accept gifts of unlimited value from lobbyists? For those responding to our online poll, the answer was a resounding no.

But how much is too much?

A group of more than 20 newspapers, including the Kokomo Tribune, launched an editorial campaign saying that the limit should be $50.

By searching reports filed with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission, The Indianapolis Star found that various interests spent more than $24 million over the course of a year trying to influence Indiana lawmakers.

Sen. Brandt Hershman, a Republican from Wheatfield, led the list of area lawmakers by accepting gifts totaling more than $1,900. AT&T; provided him with two sets of tickets to the Red Bull Grand Prix valued at nearly $800. He also got sporting event tickets worth more than $600 from the Indiana Energy Association and tickets worth almost $400 from IPALCO, and he accepted a dinner worth $109.70 from MySmartgov.org.

Second on the list was Rep. Eric Turner, a Republican from Marion, with gifts totaling nearly $1,600. He accepted sporting event tickets for himself and family members valued at more than $1,400, and he accepted a dinner from IPALCO valued at $136.80.

The total gifts accumulated by local lawmakers are hardly the most dramatic.

House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, a Democrat from South Bend, accepted gifts totaling more than $5,000, including a $3,000 trip to Puerto Rico provided by the Indiana Motor Truck Association and an $1,100 trip to President Obama’s inauguration provided by Roche Diagnostics.

Republican Sen. Mike Delph of Carmel, on the other hand, had accepted no gifts from lobbyists during the reporting period.

Maybe $50 is too low. Perhaps $800 worth of Colts tickets is no big deal.

But where do we draw the line? When it comes to currying favor with legislators, how much is too much?

If you have an opinion on this topic, now would be a good time to weigh in. Send a letter to the editor, or better yet, get in touch with your state legislators.

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