Political football in Montgomery
by The Anniston Star Editorial Board
October 19, 2010
If only Alabama and Auburn’s ball carriers were as elusive as state politicians asked to weigh in on the free Iron Bowl tickets perk handed out to lawmakers every year. The way some side-stepped the issue when asked about it by a Star reporter, you’d have imagined they were equal to Auburn’s Cam Newton or Alabama’s Mark Ingram.
Longtime state Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston, didn’t want to talk about it. Neither did Rep. Richard Laird, D-Roanoke. Rep. K.L. Brown, R-Jacksonville, and his general election opponent Ricky Whaley failed to return calls.
Anyone still wonder why Alabamians are soured on Montgomery politics?
Here’s how the ticket giveaway works. The host school in the annual Alabama-Auburn football game hands out free tickets to state lawmakers and other top officials. Of the tickets sent to 35 senators and 105 representatives, only four weren’t picked up last year; every member of the local delegation claimed their tickets. A loophole in campaign-finance law allows lawmakers to accept the freebies without having them count as donations.
The lawmakers who did speak with Star reporter Laura Camper said they gave their free tickets away. Of course, even if lawmakers don’t put their own backsides in the seat, they still stand to gain. A legislator giving away the most prized ticket in the state wins goodwill at the very least.
The universities don’t see it that way. Cathy Andreen, director of media relations at the University of Alabama, said, “This long-standing tradition gives the universities an opportunity to showcase the important and positive impact we have on issues that are critical to the state, including economic development.” And why is that best done on a fall Saturday in November when classes aren’t in session?
The next question is: What do the universities expect in return? Montgomery has the power to make life easier or harder for the campuses in Auburn and Tuscaloosa. Did free tickets to lawmakers help keep UA and AU from feeling more pain during the prepaid college tuition rescue? No one can say for sure, but those free tickets to the Iron Bowl ensure that the question can’t be so easily dismissed.
And that is the point of strong governmental ethics — eliminating the appearance of impropriety. That appearance exists regardless of whether or not state representatives wish to discuss it.
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