SALEM — House Democrats on Monday beat back an attempt by the Republican minority to ban any gifts to legislators, no matter the value.

Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, offered the outright prohibition at a meeting of a three-member special committee on rules on the opening day of the 2007 legislative session.

But after more than an hour of debate, the House approved 56-4 a less-restrictive version that prohibits big-ticket perks such as restaurant meals, entertainment, sporting events and trips to posh resorts. It allows House members and staff to accept up to $10 in gifts from lobbyists, and it exempts some items such as gifts from family members, promotional mugs and T-shirts, plaques with a resale value of $25 or less and books related to state issues.

The new rule goes into effect immediately.

Richardson, GOP whip in the House, said it was "absurd" to implement a $10 rule, noting it would be virtually impossible to set values on routine, de minimis gifts that are given to members.

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Two major issues have brought the ethics code to the forefront: the scandals in Congress surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and visits to Maui involving seven current and former Oregon legislators — including Sen. Jason Atkinson, R-Central Point — that were paid for by the Oregon Beer & Wine Distributors Association.

According to several of the lawmakers, they were advised by association lobbyist Paul Romain that they didn't need to list the trips on their annual reports to the Oregon Ethics Commission.

Richardson said his "no gift" amended version was not intended to upstage the Democrats, who took over control of the House by a narrow margin — 31-29 — in November.

But House Majority Leader Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, complained that he saw the GOP changes only the night before. The Democratic version had been worked on for several months with input from both parties.

He called the Republican amendments an attempt at "one-upmanship."

"It is not a helpful response to a deliberate and carefully thought-out proposal," Hunt said.

The battle still isn't over. The rules are temporary until the House can draft a statute limiting gifts and other perks for both chambers. The Senate, meanwhile, will introduce its own bill with a different set of limits.

Hearings will begin Thursday on Senate Bill 10, which currently has a $50 ceiling on gifts, but Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, said that figure plus other provisions are not written in stone.

Hearings on a House bill won't begin for several weeks. Any differences between the House and Senate ethics measures would have to be resolved before going to the governor.

Don Jepsen is a freelance writer living in Salem. Reach him at djepsen34@yahoo.com.