Officials given UT tickets, files show

bdan2002 · May 31, 2006

May 30, 2006, 11:38PM

Associated Press

AUSTIN - Tickets to University of Texas football games may be out of reach for some fans, but state and federal lawmakers have routinely taken the opportunity to attend games at no cost, according to a newspaper report.

The UT System gave the elected officials 1,962 free or discounted tickets to UT football games during the past five seasons, according to records obtained by the Austin American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act.

School and elected officials say the practice encourages good will and communication. Of the 140 lawmakers who received free or discounted tickets, some have supported the UT System's legislative interests and others have not.

In letters sent each August, the chancellor of the UT System offers state legislators two free tickets to each Longhorns home game. The letter isn't sent to federal lawmakers, but they can request tickets.

About 950 of the tickets were distributed at no charge. The remainder, including tickets to bowl games and away games, were sold at face value.

State law allows legislators to use "property or facilities owned, leased or operated by the governmental entity" — a category that includes public universities. State law does not require legislators to disclose the tickets on personal financial statements filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.

UT regents are granted free tickets for life.