Perks-ski

==PA Ski Perks to PA House Member==
: Source: Editorial, The Patriot-News, Wednesday, April 19, 2006
David Levdansky, a Democratic state legislator from Allegheny County,
accomplished two things last winter when he accepted three VIP season
lift tickets good for any of 22 Pennsylvania ski resorts:
He set himself further apart from his constituents, who must
routinely pay $40 or more for a day on the slopes.
He helped to confirm for the Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association that,
yes, it's a good thing to allow legislators to ski for free.
Thirteen bills dealing with ski resorts are now under consideration
in the Legislature, including ones that would loosen work place rules
for minors and limit lawsuits from slope-related in juries.
Levdansky's name appears as a cosponsor on one of them.
But he is not alone. The ski association handed out 280 VIP season
passes to about 75 of the 253 members of the General Assembly, to be
used by either the legislators, family members or staff.
Legislators can pursue less vigorous free entertainment, too. All 253
receive a pair of passes from the National Association of Theater
Owners, good for free admission to 121 participating movie theaters
Sunday through Thursday. There are free tickets for the circus, for
art exhibits and for sporting events, including the Pocono 500 NASCAR
race and Penn State football games.
The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau will treat several
dozen legislators and their families from other parts of the state to
a free weekend in the City of Brotherly Love this summer, according
to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In fact, there's no limit on the gifts Pennsylvania legislators can
accept. They must report for the public record any gift worth more
than $250 -- the VIP ski passes are valued at $600 each -- but
lobbyists can lavish any number of luxuries worth less than $250 on
legislators without public notice.
By contrast, the threshold for New Jersey legislators to report gifts
is 1/10th as large, or $25.
Pennsylvania is the only state without a law requiring disclosure of
lobbyist spending. Its last effort to legislate one was rejected by
the state Supreme Court because some lobbyists are lawyers, and only
the Supreme Court can regulate lawyers.
Commendably, after that ruling the Senate voted to require lobbyists
to report their spending on its members. Last year, for example,
lobbyists spent $3.37 million for gifts, meals, lodging and other
such freebies. As the rules don't require a breakdown, it's assumed
that that total includes not just senators but House members and,
presumably, officials of the executive branch, as well.
A month ago, Gov. Ed Rendell finally ordered lobbyists to register
with the governor's office and report their spending, fulfilling a
campaign pledge from 2002.
Levdansky said the lift tickets, which gave him an opportunity to
teach his two children to ski, earned the ski association nothing
more than "five or 10 minutes [of his time] and a cup of coffee.
"But I owe that to every constituent," he added, "and they don't have
to give me anything."
Lobbyists may not expect much more than that, but you have to believe
that for $124,813,732.35 -- the total lobbying expenses reported last
year to the Senate -- they indeed expect more. It remains a huge
failing of the General Assembly that it can't pass legislation
requiring full disclosure of what lobbyists spend on its members and
setting reasonable limits on the type, number and value of gifts that
members may accept.
These are the people's representatives in Harrisburg, and they ought
to conduct their business according to ethical standards that don't
offend the sensibilities of the people who elect them.
==Links==
* Wellness
* Ski
* Perks