The Coast is Clear: Certain Gifts and Sports Tickets OK to Give Under Ethics Law Change

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By Katy Sulhoff

Story Created: May 22, 2012 at 3:38 PM CDT

Story Updated: May 22, 2012 at 7:25 PM CDT

The gift exchange controversy under the ethics law is finally settled. Lawmakers have now defined a confusing term in the law.

The Latin phrase "de minimis" was at the center of the debate. That term was used to describe how much a gift for a public employee can be worth, but few people understood its definition.

The confusion kept parents from buying their kids' teacher's gifts and prevented places like the Montgomery Biscuits from giving out free tickets to certain people.

Now the term has been defined to mean $25 or less.

"Without having de minimis defined, we had a lot of questions from our clients does this count, does this not count? Can we use Biscuits tickets to give to clients to friends, to even other family members? Actually having a definition now and that value $25 put on it really helps clear up the confusion for people and make them feel comfortable giving Biscuits tickets away as they had previously done," said Biscuits General Manager Marla Vickers.

The ethics law applies to all public employees from teachers to lawmakers.

Merriam-Webster defines "de minimis" as "lacking significance or importance; so minor as to merit disregard."

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