If a company is unwilling to jump through its self-imposed barriers to paying for things it wants, then it obviously doesn't value those features/items. This is definitely a case of 'voting with [one's] dollars'.
I'm almost certain there is a way to get the company to pay for pizzas for a staff meeting which doesn't involve any legal contracting bull.
Do you think GP is like, lying to you? Or maybe managers are just silly and are indeed willing to draw $500 for a pizza party but are unwilling to drop the same for a year of support for software they depend on. This is absolutely believable to me.