It was Valentine's Day eve 2009, and the state faced a $40 billion deficit and a deadline.

The governor and legislative leaders had just agreed on a package of sobering tax increases and spending cuts that would affect nearly every Californian. But the package awaited review by the full Legislature.

Conservatives were decrying the tax increases, Democrats were trying to stand firm, and national newspapers were opining on whether California would go bankrupt.

That same night, AT&T spent $1,800 to send 18 legislators, legislative staffers and their children to "Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour" at Arco Arena.

Such contrasts were commonplace, according to a Bee analysis of gifts to legislators over 18 months ending in June. While their constituents coped with the worst recession in decades and the state suffered through another budget crisis, California's legislators and leaders ate about 8,000 free meals, pocketed about 2,000 free event tickets and accepted enough flowers to open their own shop, all courtesy of lobbyists.

The final tally: From January 2008 through June 2009 lobbyists gave legislators, their staffs and relatives about $610,000 in gifts, according to a Bee analysis of thousands of lobbyist disclosure reports. State constitutional officers, regulators and state agency workers collected an additional $233,000 in gifts.

(Go here to search the Bee's database of all the gifts.)

Loopholes allowed many to circumvent the annual limit of $420 in gifts an individual may accept from a single organization; companies can give unlimited gifts directly to a leader's relatives and friends, for instance.

Officials defend the gifts by noting that $420 isn't much, that a lot of the gifts are actually meals at boring, quasi-obligatory functions, and that the lobbying largesse does not sway their decisions.

"Sen. (Ron) Calderon views each piece of legislation on its own merits and not on the value of any gift," said Rocky Rushing, chief of staff to Calderon, a Los Angeles-area Democrat, whose legislative office ranked among the Capitol's top gift recipients during the time span reviewed by The Bee.

Watchdog groups, however, say at best these gifts increase the lifestyle gap between state leaders and struggling constituents. At worst, they say, they can influence decisions that affect the lives of Californians.

"It grants unfair access to the interests that can afford to give the gifts," said Trent Lange, whose group, the California Clean Money Campaign, advocates public funding of elections. "At a maximum it is meant as a form of legalized bribery."

A database created by The Bee from 25,000 pages of documents lists all the gifts: passes to concerts ranging from Billy Joel to Britney Spears; 424 lunches and dinners at Capitol fine dining establishment Spataro (average cost: $57 a meal); kegs of beer; free travel to destinations from Hawaii to Hungary.

And Kings tickets – hundreds of Sacramento Kings tickets.

'Furlough Friday' frolics

On the first "Furlough Friday" of state workers, the atmosphere in Arco Arena was electric as the Kings prepared to retire the jersey of former star Chris Webber.

Gary Gerould, the voice of the Sacramento Kings, was in top form. Sitting in front of him at center court on Feb. 6 were some of the best-loved Kings in history – Divac, Christie, Pollard. Around him were more than 15,000 screaming fans, a rare sellout in an otherwise disappointing season.

Just before Chris Webber strode out to huge roars – "old-fashioned Arco Thunder," Gerould would call it – Gerould summed up the mood:

"My God, isn't it good to be a Kings fan tonight!"

It was even better to be a Kings fan with a connection to the state Legislature.

BP America, the California arm of the British oil giant, bought two tickets for an aide to Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, worth $300; two tickets for an aide to Sen. Mike Davis. D-Los Angeles, worth $300; and two tickets for a consultant to the Senate Insurance Committee, also worth $300.

Call The Bee's Phillip Reese, (916) 321-1137.