H.B. 268 by Representative Wheatley (D – Murray, District 35) is uniquie in that it is the only bill I have seen that attempts to define exactly what a “gift” is. Furthermore it adds greater restrictions on what must be reported when a legislator receives a gift.

A “gift,” by the way, would be defined as “a transfer of real property or tangible personal property for less than fair and adequate consideration.” In other words, something that a person gets for less than its actual cost – the most common price being free.

What also makes this bill interesting is that it is incumbent upon the legislator to fill out any and all paperwork associated with receiving gifts. I see this as a double edged sword: on the one hand there is no way a legislator can deny they did not know what was on a report, on the other it becomes much easier for them to “forget” to report gifts.

The impression I am starting to get is that the Democrats and the Moderate Republicans really are trying a buckshot approach to ethics and campaign finance reform with the mantra being “if we throw enough crap against a wall, something is bound to stick.”