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Arizona Cardinals gave lawmakers tickets Goal was to curry favor, team says by Craig Harris and Ginger Rough - Jun. 26, 2011 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic It's not often that the Arizona Cardinals will admit to following the Fiesta Bowl's lead. But when it comes to courting politicians, the Cardinals stole a page from their longtime adversary's playbook. Between 2006 and 2009, the football team said it gave dozens of state lawmakers free tickets - including premium seats in the owner's loft - to NFL games. The goal, according to the organization: to improve its standing at the Arizona Legislature after losing battles to the Fiesta Bowl over stadium-sharing issues. For years, the Fiesta Bowl curried legislative favor by doling out free game tickets and taking lawmakers on expensive out-of-state trips. The Cardinals' biggest defeat came in 2005, when the Fiesta Bowl persuaded the Legislature to settle a dispute with the Cardinals over control of University of Phoenix Stadium for the 2007 Bowl Championship Series college-football title game. The politicians overwhelmingly passed a law that not only let the Fiesta Bowl manage the event and receive additional revenue, but they also tossed in a $263,000 state subsidy for the bowl. "It was clear to us, particularly after the 2005 legislative session pertaining to the BCS game, that the team's relationship with the Legislature was not as strong as it could be," said Mark Dalton, a Cardinals spokesman. Dalton said the Cardinals began giving away free tickets to "build a better relationship" with lawmakers and change the team's perception. They were not alone. Interviews and examinations of public records show a culture of sports freebies has evolved among state lawmakers as various entities try to lobby lawmakers on issues ranging from university budgets to tax subsidies. In fact, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona told The Arizona Republic they have for years provided legislators free tickets to home football games. The Arizona Diamondbacks routinely provide free tickets to opening day. Only the Phoenix Coyotes and Phoenix Suns said they do not give free tickets to legislators, with one executive calling it "a bad idea." Failure to disclose State lobbying laws allow lawmakers to accept game tickets, so long as they are offered to the entire Legislature, an entire chamber, or an entire legislative committee. The Cardinals made it a practice to invite entire committees to games so as not to run afoul of state rules. The universities make their tickets available to all 90 state lawmakers. But state law requires lawmakers to disclose such gifts on annually filed financial disclosure forms if their value exceeds $500. So far, 15 current and former state lawmakers have amended their disclosure forms to reflect gifts from the Fiesta Bowl since the March release of a 276-page internal report that detailed misuse of funds by employees, potentially illegal reimbursement of employee donations for political campaigns, and free gifts and tickets to politicians. Fifteen others properly disclosed receipt of bowl gifts, whether in the form of tickets or trips, on their annually filed forms, according to an ongoing Republic review of the records. Amid its investigation last year, the bowl stopped giving lawmakers free tickets to the Fiesta Bowl and Insight Bowl, its sister game, and asked legislators to begin paying for their tickets. Following Fiesta For the Cardinals, giving away free tickets was a way to go head-to-head with the Fiesta Bowl, which for years battled the NFL team over stadium issues. The Cardinals didn't have any bills before the Legislature during the time it gave out the gifts. Nonetheless, the team gave 35 lawmakers pairs of tickets to its home opener in 2006. It gave a pair of loft tickets 47 times to lawmakers or incoming legislators for a dozen different home games from 2007 to 2009, according to the team. Each loft ticket had a value ranging from $132.50 to $167.25. In most cases, however, the lawmakers attended only one game during the calendar year. That meant they were not obligated to reveal their acceptance of the gift on their annual financial disclosure forms, since the value fell under the $500 reporting threshold. Edward Queen, director of the Ethics and Servant Leadership Program at Emory University in Atlanta, suggested Arizona's reporting minimum is too high, especially when it comes to gifts like premium seats at sporting events. "In instances like this, you are really not only giving a monetary value, you are giving a significant kind of prestige value," Queen said. "These are events and experiences that set you off from the mass of people. They give you the impression you are special, and that far outweighs any monetary value they may have." The Republic, in its review of records, found only three lawmakers who disclosed the Cardinals tickets: Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise; Sen. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, and former Rep. Ben Miranda, D-Phoenix. Arizona law required only Miranda to disclose his tickets, because he went to two games in 2008, bumping the value of the gift over the $500 limit. Reagan said she erred on the side of caution and disclosed the tickets because "they were really good seats." "I didn't know the ticket price," Reagan said. "That's the reason why I disclosed." Reagan, who is among the 30 lawmakers who also have reported Fiesta Bowl gifts, said she understands why lawmakers' acceptance of the seats might elicit public anger. She said she would not do it again. "The public has an issue with these tickets," she said, "And I understand that. They say, 'We don't get to go for free.' " Looking back, she said, "I would never have gone. I learned my lesson." But Reagan and Senate Minority Leader David Schapira, D-Tempe, disagree with the notion that accepting the tickets was a way for the team to curry favor at the Capitol. "Honestly, I've never done anything for the Fiesta Bowl," Reagan said. "It wasn't a quid pro quo and it wasn't with the Bidwills (the family that owns the Cardinals) either. They weren't taking us in the backroom, and saying, 'This is what I need.' " Schapira pointed out that the Cardinals obeyed all state laws by inviting entire committees to the game. He said he had not advocated for them at the Capitol, adding, "The Cardinals have never asked me for anything." Although the Fiesta Bowl and Cardinals have ended their policies of giving out free tickets, ASU, which relies on the Legislature to approve its budget, said it still plans to give legislators premium seats to its home football games this fall. "Tickets to our football games are not considered gifts but are exempted as special events under the law and ASU reports the costs involved, not the legislators," said Virgil Renzulli, ASU's vice president of public affairs. Amy Bjelland, the state elections director, said Renzulli is correct that the tickets are not "legally" considered gifts as it pertains to the state's lobbying law, but she said another state law still requires legislators to report any gifts if the amount exceeds $500. The Republic's review of financial disclosure reports found that three former state lawmakers - Republicans Thayer Verschoor of Gilbert and Jim Weiers of Phoenix, and Democrat Pete Rios of Hayden - disclosed ASU gifts. The Republic has not found any lawmakers who disclosed gifts from UA. It is possible lawmakers may not have known the value of the tickets provided by ASU. The university, through its foundation, pays $99 each for about 50 season tickets a year that are given to lawmakers and their guests, Renzulli said. That amounts to $16.50 a ticket for six home games, or well under the reporting threshold, even if a lawmaker and a guest went to every game. Most fans paying for those tickets would sit in the unshaded upper bowl. However, ASU allows lawmakers with the complimentary tickets to sit in Section 126 in the "loge," where there are cooling fans, TVs for instant replay and complimentary food and drink. The current season-ticket price for that section is $520, or about $74 per game for seven home games this fall. In prior years, such as 2009, the season-ticket price for that section was $850 or about $121 a game. Assistant Secretary of State Jim Drake said while the seat being occupied by a lawmaker has a higher market value, they only would have to report the price paid by ASU's foundation. Queen, the ethicist, said that is another weakness in Arizona's law. "Pretending that because they only paid $99, that the value is actually worth just $99 is troubling," he said. "Unless you are completely disingenuous or dumber than a post, you know why you are getting these (gifts). They aren't giving you this just because you are such a nice person." Renzulli declined to answer questions about why ASU let lawmakers sit in premium seats that were bought at a discount. But he said ticket pricing at Sun Devil Stadium has the dual goal of maximizing revenue and attendance. At UA, the practice of inviting legislators to football games "goes back beyond the memory of anyone working at the University of Arizona," said Jennifer Fitzenberger, a UA spokeswoman. "It is a tradition founded on the notion that it is appropriate to bring our state representatives into social contact with the university community for the quintessential collegiate weekend sporting event. Legislators experience the community and show their support for a vital state institution," she said. Documents obtained by the newspaper through a public-records request show UA spent $33,266 over the past five years to provide 878 free tickets to legislators and Gov. Jan Brewer, who received three tickets worth $103 in 2009. The average cost of a ticket was nearly $38. Former state Sen. Jay Tibshraeny, R-Chandler, received the most tickets - 14 valued at $615 - from UA last year. He also accepted tickets to every ASU home game last year, ASU said. Tibshraeny, now mayor of Chandler, confirmed he accepted all the UA tickets, but said he did not go to every ASU game. He said he took the tickets because they were offered to all lawmakers, and he was unaware he had to disclose that he had accepted the tickets from the universities. The Cardinals also said he twice accepted loft tickets in 2007. If the acceptance of free tickets continues to be a negative issue among constituents, Tibshraeny said, lawmakers should stop the practice. [So he will accept the bribes, while at the same time condemning the practice - what a hypocrite!] Fitzenberger said the UA paid for its tickets through the UA Athletics Department, using the university president's allocation. She said no state funds were used. Occasionally, she said, if additional tickets were needed, the UA Foundation paid for those. Robert Shelton, incoming executive director at the Fiesta Bowl, said in an interview he thought lawmakers had paid for the tickets at UA, where he is leaving as president. Records, however, show legislators received free tickets. While lawmakers contemplate their constituents' views on the matter, the Cardinals have already made a decision to get out of the freebie business. Dalton, the team spokesman, said some lawmakers were giving away their free tickets, and there had been negative media attention over the Fiesta Bowl's business practices. "Part of it was, the Fiesta Bowl had stopped their wining and dining of legislators, so this project had stopped its course and legislators were sending proxies," Dalton said. Arizona lawmakers who received free sports tickets Jun. 25, 2011 07:58 PM The Arizona Republic Recipients of Cardinals tickets The Arizona Cardinals from 2006 to 2009 gave lawmakers free tickets, hoping to improve the team's image at the Legislature. In 2006, 35 legislators accepted tickets to one game, but the names were not disclosed by the team. Below is a list of current and former legislators who accepted seats in 2007-09 in the owner's suite.
Arizona State University tickets The university has a longstanding policy of providing free tickets to home football games to Arizona state lawmakers. Below is a list of current and former legislators who accepted the seats, and for how many games, between 2006 and 2010.
University of Arizona tickets The University of Arizona routinely invites all 90 of Arizona's state lawmakers to home football games. Here's a list of current and former lawmakers who accepted tickets between 2006 and 2010 and how many they received during that time.
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