Some who do say they have gotten ideas for legislation from the gift givers and see nothing wrong. In most cases, however, it is impossible to connect gifts accepted by legislators with bills they sponsored or votes they cast. But Colorado's absence of restrictions on accepting gifts fosters what some legislators and government watchdog groups say is an overly close relationship between gift givers and legislators. There's a sense of seaminess to it all - the whole image that decisions are being made behind the scenes,'' the Boulder Democrat said. The half-dozen incumbent legislators who refuse virtually all gifts say taking them does nothing to help in their jobs.
Lobbyists can convey information just as easily in a conversation.
Accepting free tickets and trips, they say, undermines the intent of having a part-time citizen legislature. Legislators who do accept gifts say their votes haven't been influenced by the items they've accepted from lobbyists and special-interest groups. Reflecting that view, legislative committees have twice defeated attempts to limit gift-giving over the last five years. In sharp contrast, the state's voters sought to clamp down on the influence of money in politics last November, overwhelmingly passing a law imposing some of the nation's strictest limits on donations to political campaigns. And while a 1993 law bars lobbyists and their employers from giving campaign donations while the legislature is in session, there is no prohibition against gift-giving during that period.