In holiday season, new ethics rules play scrooge for state lawmakers

Publication: The Advocate

Brian Lockhart
December 17, 2007

The holiday season at the capitol in Hartford was once a little more festive for lawmakers than it is now, state Rep. Lawrence Cafero recently recalled.

"There were always several holiday parties (thrown by) law firms, or companies, or individual lobbyists or whatever," said Cafero, R-Norwalk, the House minority leader who was first elected in 1993. "Our calendars were full."

But in recent years, rather than hosting lavish parties with open bars and lengthy buffet tables, many special interest groups have limited the holiday cheer to a modest lunch or just coffee and Christmas cookies.

Those who throw holiday galas and invite lawmakers must file detailed paperwork with the Office of State Ethics and ask the elected officials to foot some of the expense because of strict limits on annual spending by lobbyists.

And the biggest holiday gift legislators can now expect from special interest groups is a greeting card or, perhaps, a chocolate bar.

Bill Curry, a political columnist who in 2002 unsuccessfully challenged then-Republican Gov. John Rowland, said the corporate world does not party as hard as it once did.

"I point out first of all, holiday parties are generally on the wane," Curry said. "My generation - it was like we were celebrating both Jesus and Bacchus (the Roman God of wine and drunkenness). The tales of what happened at the office Christmas party became a part of American mythology."

But, Curry said, lawmakers' holiday celebrations in Hartford also have been affected by the ethics reforms passed after the corruption scandal that drove Rowland from office and landed him in prison.

In 2004, Rowland pleaded guilty to accepting more than $100,000 in repairs to his cottage, private flights to Las Vegas and getaways to Vermont.

"There's no question that had a huge impact on the culture, and the laws passed since have also had a great impact," Curry said.

According to the Office of State Ethics, gifts provided to lawmakers must be reported by lobbyists, cost less than $10 and not exceed a total of $50 in a year.

Special interests are allowed to hold legislative receptions once per year, spending $49.99 or less on food or drink for individual legislators. But they are required to invite either every legislator in the region or in the state.

Any expenses above the $49.99 must be borne by the lawmaker.

Ellen Miller, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for greater transparency in government, was critical of Connecticut's rules on gifts and meals.

"There's still an opportunity for the special interest lobbyist to have a cozy relationship and one that's exclusive," Miller said. "Why not say 'You can't give gifts to legislators' and 'You cannot take them to parties?'

"You want to lobby a lawmaker, go to their office and make an appointment."

But state Rep. Christopher Caruso, D-Bridgeport, who helped oversee the ethics reforms, believes the rules have made a difference. Caruso said the holiday parties being thrown when he was first elected in 1990 were extravagant.

"These were sought after," Caruso said. "That has all changed now."

Andy Sauer, executive director of Connecticut Common Cause, a group that promotes ethics reform, agreed. Sauer said it helps that the Office of Ethics enforces the laws with random audits of lobbying firms.

"The lobbyists are being much more careful about these things," Sauer said. "It's a new age in Connecticut right now. . . . No one's taking any chances."

Joseph Brennan, vice president of public policy for the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, said the group does not host holiday parties for legislators but said the ethics laws have affected other CBIA events.

"Things have changed a lot, not just at holiday time, but year-round," Brennan said. "It's just not worth the administrative hassle or the risk of not doing something the right way. I think the state has sent a pretty clear message they don't want to engage in this."

Patricia "Paddi" LeShane, founding partner of Sullivan & LeShane, the lobbying firm that represents Stamford at the state capitol, said she and her husband still invite lawmakers to a holiday celebration at their Hartford home.

"I don't view it as hard. You just have to be very detail-oriented," LeShane said.

She said she tries to keep the per-head cost to about $30, but the invitations advise lawmakers they may have to reimburse the firm should the cost exceed the state limit. LeShane said having to pay their own way discourages some lawmakers, while others may worry about how their attendance at the event is perceived.

But LeShane said the party goes on because it is not thrown just for elected officials.

"It's not a legislative event. People that live in our neighborhood come. People we work with on boards and in business. We have clients who come, legislators, agency people," LeShane said. "It kind of mixes up and is a fun thing."

Sullivan & LeShane also sends holiday chocolate bars costing less than $10 to clients and lawmakers, she said.

"Everyone sends Christmas cards out and we said 'What can we do that's different?' " LeShane said. "It's just one tool in staying in touch with people. . . . I don't buy into the premise if I send a chocolate bar to somebody they have an obligation to me."

LeShane confirmed that Rowland's successor, Republican M. Jodi Rell, has declined the holiday chocolate since taking office in 2004.

Caruso said it is not the occasional candy bar that the General Assembly was targeting when it passed the ethics reforms.

"I'm not suggesting because a legislator gets a lunch or candy bar it means the lobbyist buys them," he said. "But it's a piling on of one thing after another that builds relationships and leads to undo influence in deciding legislation . . . especially at the holiday time. You take people to drinks, they become your friends. How do you say no to them?"

Freshman state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, said he has so far not been invited to any holiday parties but sees nothing wrong with lawmakers accepting lobbyists' invitations.

"We work with these people," Tong said. "To attend a Christmas party is certainly appropriate."

Tong said lobbyists have no leverage over his decisions as a lawmaker and said he is just as willing to accept invitations from the residents he represents.

"If they want to have coffee or breakfast, I make time in the morning before I go to work," he said. "Constituents have a much bigger impact on me. A constituent votes and has control over whether I get re-elected. So do his friends and members of his family."

Cafero said he does not lament the loss of the holiday parties, but believes they helped promote bipartisanship in Hartford.

"There's certainly a loss of camaraderie," Cafero said.

Brown Rudnick, a Hartford-based law and lobbying firm where Cafero works as an attorney, still hosts a "Red Wine Night" for the entire legislature in the middle of the year with wine and hors d'oeuvres.

Tom Morawetz, a professor of law and ethics at the University of Connecticut's Law School, said lawmakers should decline invitations to lobbyist events - even if they pay their own way.

"You have people who are paid to be 'arm-twisters' and they are doing something more than just having a conversation by having someone at a party," Morawetz said.

What appears to be a more acceptable holiday tradition for lawmakers is to attend modest luncheons or open houses with dessert held by special interest groups.

Curry said he has no problem with such events.

"If you tell me the group wants these people to come over to have a cup of coffee, I'm not worried of the corruptive effects of that," he said. "I am worried when one side provides endless liquor and heaping shrimp."

John Merz, director of the Connecticut AIDS Coalition, had expected legislators to dine on chicken at his group's offices Thursday afternoon until the snowstorm hit.

"I sort of feel like the pendulum has swung a little to the extreme when folks can't even share a cup of holiday cheer with the people we work with, day in and out, throughout the year for fear of violating an ethics law," Merz said. "And legislators are just one of many groups we invite. We invite clients, colleagues in the field, donors, funders. We say 'Hey, it's been a long, hard year, you all do good work, let's enjoy some chicken.' "

John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, also hosted a holiday open house last week with legislators like Senate President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, dropping by.

"We have our executive board meeting in the morning, then have lunch and during the afternoon coffee and cookies. People come and go," Olsen said. "We had representatives of the General Assembly as well as many other people. . . . Several of them, the best they had was a can of soda."

Lawmakers in lower Fairfield County said ethics issues aside, they often decline invitations to holiday parties and other events because of the travel time.

"Most of them tend to be in Hartford, and I'm not up there right now unless we're in session," said Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk.

State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, said he would prefer to go to holiday parties in his district or to spend time with his family.

"It's a time of year where there's so many personal things going on," McKinney said. "I see people in Hartford enough when I'm in session."