Ethics Commission mulls rules change for football tickets

Saturday, October 30th 2004, 4:09 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Officials with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission considered the price of football tickets when discussing whether to double the dollar limit on gifts lawmakers can accept.

Elected officials and state employees are prohibited from accepting more than 3-hundred dollars a year in gifts from a lobbyist or someone who wants to do business with the state.

Lobbyists must publicly report gifts if they exceed 50-dollars in a six-month period.

The Ethics Commission is considering a proposal to double the maximum gift limit to 6-hundred dollars and the disclosure limit to a hundred dollars a year.

Lynn Howell, chairman of Common Cause Oklahoma, argued against the change, saying Oklahoma's maximum gift limit is already higher than surrounding states and football tickets shouldn't be a reason to the change the rules.