As the Atlanta Falcons stomped the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 22 in the NFC Championship game, several state lawmakers celebrated along with them in the final game at the Georgia Dome.
A few were there thanks to free tickets given to them by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the state agency that runs the Dome and surrounding campus.
Reps. Heath Clark, R-Warner Robins, Tom Kirby, R-Loganville, and Patty Bentley, D-Butler, were all treated to free seats. Rep. Paulette Rakestraw, R-Powder Springs, also got a seat thanks to the agency, but she told the GWCCA she will reimburse it the $164 value of the ticket.
Bentley said she asked the World Congress Center for a ticket. Efforts to reach Clark and Kirby were unsuccessful Friday.
The World Congress Center does not get free tickets to this Sunday's Super Bowl.
As a state agency, no law bars the authority from giving lawmakers free tickets. Over the course of the 2016 season, 23 lawmakers saw Falcons home games compliments of the perk. Many more were able to call the agency and buy tickets.
A 2013 law bans private interest groups with lobbyists at the state Capitol from giving lawmakers tickets to sporting events and caps all gifts to lawmakers at $75. But that ethics bill also said lobbyists for state agencies, including the World Congress Center Authority, do not have to register as lobbyists or report their spending.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution requested the names of lawmakers given Falcons tickets through the Georgia Open Records Act.
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