Questions are being raised over Gov. Katie Hobbs’ staff getting free tickets to Super Bowl 57 and some say it’s more than just unethical.
Dennis Welch and Cody Lillich
3TV/CBS 5
Super Bowl 57 put Arizona on the world’s stage, but the sky-high ticket prices made it nearly impossible for average Arizonans to attend the game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. But members of Governor Katie Hobbs’ staff received free tickets to the game, worth tens of thousands of dollars.
However, there is a state law barring elected officials and public servants from accepting them.
A state officer or state employee shall not accept an expenditure or single expenditure for entertainment from a principal, designated lobbyist, authorized lobbyist, lobbyist for compensation, public body, designated public lobbyist or authorized public lobbyist or any other person acting on that person’s behalf.
Arizona Revised Statute 41-1232.08
“I think the violation still applies to this statute,” Dr. Robert Collins, a political analyst at Dillard University in Louisiana, said. Collins said these type of laws are in place in many states for a simple reason. “It could be used as a form of influence peddling. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what they’re trying to do in this case. Certainly, their motives might be honest and pure and ethical,” Dr. Collins said.
