Lobbyist Gift-Giving at Issue in More States

Stateline: Two months after demonstrators demanding greater accountability from state legislators were arrested at the Pennsylvania Capitol, a bill to ban gifts from lobbyists to officials remains stuck in committee without a hearing.

The laws that govern gift-giving from lobbyists to public officials vary widely from state to state. In Pennsylvania and other states with relatively lenient laws, good-government activists and some elected officials have been working to impose tougher restrictions on gift-giving by lobbyists. They argue that gifts from lobbyists may corrupt elected officials’ decision-making and cause them to stray from the best interests of their constituents.

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