Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
But Cranwell made an exception to his self-imposed policy earlier this year when he co-sponsored a bill that would have abolished a state agency that keeps tabs on nursing-home costs and efficiency.
The Roanoke County Democrat said he lent his name to the bill after a lobbyist for the nursing-home industry described it as a simple measure to ease the state regulatory burden on private industry.
"If I thought that would have in any way benefited my brothers, I wouldn't have been involved," Cranwell said recently.
Opponents of the bill say the measure, while packaged as an anti-regulation initiative, really was a play by nursing-home operators to keep their customers in the dark about prices and efficiency.
"It appeared to me they were attempting to escape the scrutiny of the Cost Review Council," said Del. Jay DeBoer, D-Petersburg, referring to the agency targeted for elimination. "The council made a lot of nursing-home facilities disclose they were making considerable money and providing high-cost services without necessarily a corresponding increase in the quality of care."
Opponents of the proposal managed to save the agency, while ordering a study on ways to reduce duplicative regulations for nursing homes.
Cranwell's involvement in the nursing-home legislation did not violate the state's conflict-of-interest laws. The bill would have affected all nursing homes, not just the Heritage Hall chain owned in part by William and Robert Cranwell.
But the bill could give fresh ammunition to Republicans who for years have suggested that the powerful Democrat has used his elected office for private gain.
Trixie Averill, a Republican activist who is challenging Cranwell in November, said she supports the intent of the bill, which was sponsored by a Republican. But she criticized Cranwell for getting too close to an issue in which he and his brothers had a financial interest.
"He may have removed himself from health-care legislation in the past," Averill said. "But he does have a pattern of voting on things that he managed to benefit on in the long run."
In the 1970s, Cranwell became the state's leading annexation litigator - earning at least $2 million in legal fees - after he rewrote the state's annexation laws. In 1993, Cranwell and several other senior Democratic lawmakers pulled out of a controversial mortgage insurance business after critics - Republicans and Democrats alike - said it could create a conflict of interest.
Cranwell said such criticism is unfair because he never has violated the state's conflict-of-interest law, which he also authored.
"If I haven't violated the law, then what have I done wrong?'' he asked.
Del. Eric Cantor, R-Richmond, led the fight to abolish the Cost Review Council. He said the agency's reports are misleading, because they fail to take into account quality of care.
Cantor noted that facilities with the highest-quality service tend to be penalized because their prices can be higher than a standard nursing home.
"Someone can just as easily pick up the phone and find out what the rates are at a particular nursing home," he said.
The nursing-home industry also complained that the Cost Review Council created a paperwork strain by asking for data that nursing homes already report to other state agencies. A strike force appointed by Republican Gov. George Allen recommended elimination of duplicative reporting for nursing homes.
"I was told this was a recommendation of the governor's task force and they needed bipartisan support," Cranwell said.
Cranwell voted for the bill, but did not participate in the debate on the House floor.
Cranwell has no regrets about lending his name to the bill, even though it could cause his political enemies to question his motives.
"I just never assumed that anyone would think that," he said.
Cranwell has several financial ties to his brothers' 16 nursing homes, which generated $62 million in revenue in 1993.
His Vinton law firm does an undisclosed amount of legal work for Heritage Hall. Cranwell takes business and political trips on a Heritage Hall jet and airplane. And Cranwell has taken advantage of tax shelters by investing in several Heritage Hall partnerships, according to his state financial disclosure form.
by CNB