Should state lawmakers be able to accept free tickets to an annual public-affairs dinner? How about a garden party to promote agriculture? A public-school fundraiser? A beauty contest?

After shying away last session, lawmakers have gingerly waded back into the debate over the state’s gift ban.

State employees are prohibited from accepting gifts — including free tickets and meals — intended to influence or reward official action. Leslie Kondo, executive director of the state Ethics Commission, has interpreted the law to ban gifts worth more than $25 unless there is a state benefit.

Several lawmakers — and some in the Abercrombie administration — believe Kondo has interpreted the law more rigorously than previous ethics directors, causing confusion and a few salty exchanges over the scope of Kondo’s power.

"I think there are still some people that are interested in having it clarified," said state Rep. Gilbert Keith-Agaran (D, Kahului-Paia), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "The Ethics Commission is a creature of the Legislature. They are attached to our auditor. So if there is some disagreement by the legislators about what the law says, then we need to do something about it."

House lawmakers have introduced a bill at the request of the Abercrombie administration that would allow lawmakers and state employees to accept free tickets and invitations to widely attended charitable events sponsored by nonprofits. Lawmakers would have to disclose the free tickets to the Ethics Commission.

There would be no limit on the dollar value of the tickets or the number of events lawmakers and state employees could attend each year. Charitable events are described in the bill as fundraisers for causes or informational functions. The bill, however, would specifically bar free tickets to golf tournaments.

Keith-Agaran deferred action on the bill — House Bill 2457 — until next week after asking the state attorney general’s office to explain in more detail why the term "widely attended" was used to characterize permissible charitable events.

At a Thursday hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, lawmakers prodded Kondo to justify his interpretation of the gift ban.

Kondo first got their attention last year when he told lawmakers they could not accept free tickets from lobbyists to the annual Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs dinner. William Kaneko, the institute’s executive director, is Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s campaign manager and personally asked lawmakers to clarify the law. Kondo subsequently frowned on lawmakers who received free DVDs from an entertainment firm and complimentary bottles of wine from a solar company. He also told lawmakers they could not accept invitations to a private "Taste of Ag" event, a decision revised when the Ethics Commission agreed to let them attend if they paid $50 to cover the estimated cost of the food.

"The current law, I feel, the way it’s being interpreted is causing problems. This may not be the answer," state Rep. Tom Brower (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana) said of the bill, "but somewhere in the middle?"

Kondo said his advice to lawmakers depends on the facts surrounding the events, particularly whether there is a state benefit. He told the committee that the Ethics Commission opposes the bill, describing the legislation as a significant change to the ethics code.

Kondo said charities and other nonprofits — like corporations — have interests before the Legislature. "Charities do great work for the state of Hawaii," he said. "But charities lobby the Legislature. They lobby the executive departments. They receive state contracts. They receive grants-in-aid. They receive other state funds and other state benefits. They compete with each other and noncharitable organizations for these contracts, for these grants, for these funds."

State Rep. George Fontaine (R, Makena-Kihei) said the bill was written too broadly and could give lawmakers the ability to go to high-priced events for free. "It could be anything," he said. "It could be a casino night."

As they did last session, good-government groups urged lawmakers to leave the gift ban alone. Lawmakers and state employees, several activists said, can attend events that are open to the public by purchasing their own tickets.

"It makes the nonprofits look bad. It makes the legislators look bad, and it opens the way to corruption of our entire system," said Barbara Polk, legislative chairwoman of Americans for Demo­cratic Action-Hawaii. "It’s a minor corruption but minor corruptions are important, too."