From our nation's leading news sources . An exact amount is impossible to determine because many items aren't reported. But Colorado, as in some other states, legislators have taken gifts, often from lobbyists and special interests groups while they are in session - with no restrictions, no oversight and no requirement that all of them be disclosed.
Some legislators refuse to accept any gifts.
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.