A state lawmaker wants to end the practice of state agencies getting free tickets to University of Nebraska football games and other events in return for buying radio advertising on the Husker Sports Network.
Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery's bill (LB758) would preclude state agencies or employees from taking free or discounted tickets to any state-run facility or event.
A 2010 investigation by State Auditor Mike Foley's office revealed that state agencies were spending $1 million a year advertising on the Husker Sports Network. The company in turn bought about $100,000 worth of tickets one year and gave them away as gifts and incentives to state officials and employees.
Foley said over a three-year period, the company gave away 2,564 tickets, passes to tailgate parties, travel packages and tickets to away games, autographed footballs and dinners with coaches.
The game tickets have included skybox and premier seating for particular games and in some instances, season tickets.
"It gives the appearance that they are doing this in order to produce incentive to advertise on the Husker Sports Network," Avery said.
It should be noted, however, that Foley said there are legitimate reasons for agencies to advertise on the network.
And many of the tickets were used in legitimate ways. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, for example, used them as contest prizes. More than 1,000 tickets went to the State Lottery for use as prizes in state lottery games.
State employees and lawmakers already are prohibited by law from taking gifts with a total value of $50 a month from any one source. But there are exemptions, such as food and drink for immediate consumption and admission to state-regulated events or events at state facilities.
"This bill takes the $50 gift rules and applies it ... to everybody," said Jack Gould of the government watchdog group Common Cause. "It takes those tickets out of the game."
Avery's bill also would end the practice revealed in a recent audit that said employees of the agency that runs the state lottery got free meals, movie tickets and other perks from companies that were awarded contracts to operate its online games and scratch tickets.
Foley's office found that while nothing illegal happened involving employees of the lottery, which is run by the state Department of Revenue, it expressed concern about "excessive socializing" between lottery vendors and Revenue Department officials who award lottery contracts.
Avery's bill would preclude Revenue Department employees from receiving any meals or admission to any event from vendors.
Foley's office pointed to a January 2007 outing in which GTECH, the lottery's scratch-ticket vendor, spent $1,608 for a late-night dinner with state employees in Providence, R.I., that included two $36 steaks, $846 for vodka and wine, and a $300 tip.
In 2011, expenses included $115 for lunch and "The Green Lantern" movie, which seven lottery employees attended. The film was tied to the launch of the Nebraska Lottery's Green Lantern instant ticket game.
The audit examined the lottery's three largest vendors: GTECH, Intralot, which handled all online games through June, and SKAR Advertising, marketing and advertising vendor.
Auditors were unable to separate what vendors spent on state workers from what they paid for their own employees who attended the events. The total amount peaked at $7,344 in fiscal 2008, but has declined each year since. Vendors spent $1,044 for the fiscal year that ended in June.
The audit found that eight state employees received free tickets to play in a charity golf tournament in May. Foley said this was problematic because they played during work hours in Nebraska City, a two-hour round trip from Lincoln. He said he views the golf outing as illegal because state law requires full-time employees to work 40 hours a week.
Nebraska Tax Commissioner Doug Ewald, who heads the Revenue Department, said the golf outing was part of a fundraiser the lottery had advertised to fight problem gambling.
The audit also found employees received free tickets to Lincoln Stars hockey games and a Cornhusker Fight Club mixed martial arts tournament. Ewald said he offered the tickets to employees because he was trying to get rid of the tickets.
State law requires Foley's office to audit the lottery yearly.
