The parties will rage on through the early hours of the Democratic National Convention despite new federal and state checks on lobbyist influence that have hosts dialing up ethics lawyers before event planners.
The groups responsible for more than 400 events have found workarounds that ensure their events will be both well-attended and in compliance with ethics rules.
And some of Denver’s top lawyers have found — they believe — ways to bypass the state’s ban on gift giving to public officials, including a disputed claim that the rules don’t take effect until next month.
A Monday bash thrown by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, which will feature free booze and cigars, provides a case study in how industry groups and lobbyists are tailoring events within federal rules.
“It was certainly a challenge to get approvals from both the House and Senate ethics committees,” said Frank Coleman, the group’s senior vice president of public affairs. “But we are part of the hospitality industry, and we hope to be hospitable. . . . It’s not much of a convention without a drink.”
As the 2007 ethics reforms face their first large-scale test next week, gone are the gift bags loaded with expensive goodies, the more exclusive parties and the fetes for a particular lawmaker.
These days, parties look more like the Space Jam sponsored by the nonprofit Space Foundation of Colorado Springs and several aerospace companies, including Lockheed Martin.
The three-hour reception featuring former astronauts and appetizers is open to more than just lawmakers and their staffs — complying with rules that say events must be widely attended — and will include an educational component to satisfy House requirements that parties be related to congressional duties.
Similarly, the Western rancher-focused Public Land Council’s soiree will feature “a variety of hors d’oeuvres, including American beef and chicken,” in keeping with the so-called “toothpick rule,” a guideline that allows finger foods but frowns on sit-down dinners.
And political fundraisers and charitable events such as the dozens of concerts and golf tournaments hitting Denver are fair game for U.S. officials.
The blatant excesses of yesteryear — such as yacht parties and freebie electronics — may be gone but the events are still all about networking, said Nancy Watzman, who heads the good-government Sunlight Foundation’s event- tracking Party Time project.
“It’s a big schmooze fest. It’s a way to build relationships,” said Watzman, who also blogs at The Denver Post’s . “Is a congressman more likely to return my call, or (a call from) the person they were eating shrimp with at the party?”
Colorado officials face a stricter gift ban, which bars lobbyists and the groups that hire them from giving anything of value to a lawmaker.
As Gov. Bill Ritter’s staff sifts through thousands of invitations, advisers are assuming the law — Amendment 41 — has taken effect, a spokesman said. But some lawyers have decided the gift ban does not yet apply, a claim disputed by the ethics commission impaneled by the 2006 law.
Steve Farber — a host committee fundraiser and partner in the Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck lawfirm — believes the law won’t take effect until the committee’s procedural rules are finalized Sept. 1.
More importantly, he said, the onus is on officials to know where to draw a line that may not become clear unless someone files a complaint with the ethics commission.
“If they don’t eat or drink anything, then nothing’s been violated,” Farber said.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
