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SANTA FE — Sen. Shannon Robinson once got an expenses-paid trip to see the Denver Broncos play the Oakland Raiders, courtesy of the tobacco giant Philip Morris.

Rep. Danice Picraux, an Albuquerque Democrat, has received several pieces of Nambè were, including platters and trays from various groups.

Sen. Joe Carraro was given a stone bear sculpture and a white Stetson cowboy hat from cancer fighters and the development disability community.

Lobbyists give lawmakers lift tickets for ski areas, dinners at top-flight restaurants, golf passes, cigars and junkets. The presents are perks for being lawmakers. They're nothing more, lobbyists would say, than a little "thank you" for the lawmakers' long days and longer nights at the Roundhouse.

But such niceties would be outlawed if they were worth more than $100 and given to the policy-makers during a legislative session under a bill approved Monday by the Senate on a 25-15 vote. The bill, part of Gov. Bill Richardson's ethics-reform package, still requires House approval.

The session ends at noon Saturday, meaning the measure must be fast-tracked through committees on the House side to beat the clock.

The gift ban, sponsored by Sen. John Grubesic, a Santa Fe Democrat, prohibits lawmakers from knowingly taking gifts worth $100 or more during the legislative session and worth $250 or more during the rest of the year from any single lobbyist.

In addition, the measure limits gifts from a lobbyist, their employer or a government contractor to any single legislator to $1,000 per calendar year. Meals are excluded.

There are 819 registered lobbyists working the Roundhouse this year, each of whom would be allowed to give each legislator up to $1,000 in gifts per year.

"This is an important bill," said Sen. Cisco McSorley, an Albuquerque Democrat who voted for the measure. "It gives us the ability to take those gifts that are small gratuities that aren't going to influence our votes."

The Attorney General's Office would enforce the act, which applies to state officials, candidates and their employees. Violating the act would be a petty misdemeanor.

The most common gifts that land on legislators' desks - coffee cups and candy, packs of snacks, leather folders, tins of nuts - would still be allowed.

Robinson, recipient of the pro-football tickets, voted against the bill, in part because he said lawmakers don't get paid a salary for what they do. Instead, they receive an allowance of $144 a day - a figure set by the Internal Revenue Service - to cover expenses in Santa Fe.

"I've taken a vow of poverty," said Robinson, an Albuquerque Democrat who works as a lawyer. "It costs me at least $25,000 a year to get here."

Other related ethics bills are pending in the Senate, including a measure to limit campaign contributions to the federal-campaign individual limit of $2,300. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez said Monday he thinks the bill has a good shot at passing.

But Grubesic was nervous that time would run out or opposition would intervene first.

"There's going to be a fight on that one still," he said. "I think there's a lot of reluctance for us to design our own noose.

"The best thing I think that happened is, at least, we're finally coming around to starting to do something on ethics. It's a start. It's not perfect, but we're getting there."

Other ethics bills moving along include a public campaign financing bill sponsored by House Speaker Ben Lujan, a Nambè Democrat. He said Friday he's optimistic his measure will become law.

But with a gift ban looking like a good possibility this session, what are well-intentioned lawmakers to do with all those trinkets they receive?

There's always regifting.

"Most of what I get are mugs and posters, and I give those away to my schools, for the teachers and the kids," McSorley said.