ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOTEBOOK
DATELINE: RICHMOND
An ethical debate on political fund raising took a back seat Wednesday to the actual process of raising money.
The House of Delegates delayed action on a bill that would ban lawmakers from asking lobbyists for campaign contributions while the General Assembly is in session.
Democrats had no time for protracted debate because they had made plans to hobnob with lobbyists a few blocks away at the annual Joint Democratic Caucus fund-raiser.
Some lobbyists and party faithful paid between $125 and $1,000 a ticket to mix with Democratic legislators and elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Don Beyer and U.S. Sen. Charles Robb.
Republicans will hold their joint caucus fund-raiser next week.
Del. Kenneth Melvin, D-Portsmouth, said his decision to ask the House to delay consideration of his bill had nothing to do with the evening event.
"The bill is not ripe for consideration," Melvin said with a deadpan expression.
Critics say that lawmakers should not be twisting arms for contributions while they are voting on bills affecting the lobbyists' clients.
Melvin's bill would prohibit lawmakers from soliciting money for party organizations during General Assembly sessions. The mid-session galas could continue; lawmakers simply would have to steer clear of asking for money once the assembly gets under way.
The measure is one of several bills that address the relationship between lawmakers and special interest money.
To shore up public support, Del. John Watkins, R-Chesterfield County, appealed for his colleagues in the House to join the move for more open government. He passed out yellow buttons that read, "Sunshine Coalition."
Melvin said he read the Watkins speech as a "pre-emptive strike in case there is some backpedaling - from leaders of both parties."
Senate bans tent sales
Henry Holliday Jr. says he got a good deal on a 1996 Mercury Sable station wagon at a multidealer ``tent sale'' last fall at the Salem Civic Center.
``You have a chance to see all the models, what they have to offer. There was no high pressure or anything,'' Holliday says.
Holliday won't be so lucky when he trades in his wagon if a bill the Senate approved 23-16 Wednesday is signed into law. The measure bans sales, usually sponsored by credit unions, at which several car dealers team up briefly at one location.
Car dealers, who are pushing the bill, claim they are protecting consumers from a high-pressure circus atmosphere. Opponents of the bill, which now goes to the House of Delegates, say car dealers are trying to stymie competition. They say dealers dislike the tent sales because the credit unions - not the dealers' preferred lenders - get first shot at financing the purchases.
Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, who voted against the ban, emphasized that neither dealers nor consumers are required to participate in the sales. ``We should trust the customer enough to walk out of the tent sale and down the street to a dealership'' if he doesn't like the atmosphere or the deal he is getting, Newman said.
Newport News Republican Marty Williams, sponsor of the bill, said he knows of no ``horror stories'' about customers getting a raw deal at tent sales. ``Dealers just think it's bad for their reputation,'' he said. ``They think they can put their best foot forward at their own lot.''
Quote of the day
"This just goes to show you how we're fiddling around here doing something that doesn't mean anything and we don't know what we're doing."
- House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Vinton in response to Rocky Mount Republican Allen Dudley's bill making "Right to Work" posters available to employers. There is no particular problem that the posters would remedy, Dudley told the House, and the estimated cost of printing them is $6,000. The bill comes up for a vote today.
Staff writers Laura LaFay and David Poole and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart: How they voted. KEYWORDS: MGR GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB