The amusement parks are not regulated by the agency. The agency has asked whether either chapter 36 of the Penal Code or chapter 305 of the lobby statute prohibits the employees from accepting such coupons. Penal Code 36.08 . The coupons in question are not free passes. Rather they permit a small reduction in the price of a ticket.
Similar discounts are apparently widely available from the amusement parks through other sources.
In these circumstances, the coupons do not fall within the definition of benefit. See Ethics Advisory Opinions Nos. Chapter 305 of the Government Code regulates expenditures made to communicate with agency employees to influence agency action. If the donor's purpose is to drum up business from state employees acting in their private capacity, not to influence agency action, the lobby statute would not be applicable in the situation described. Constitutional limits on the use of public funds for private purposes would limit the use of state resources to distribute coupons to state employees.