ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996 TAG: 9612050043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
A plan to prohibit state lawmakers from accepting campaign contributions while the General Assembly is in session appears headed for defeat by legislators who say it would be too restrictive.
Even reform-minded members of a House of Delegates subcommittee on Wednesday came up with a half-dozen examples of what they saw as potentially troublesome situations.
Here's one: A lawmaker could get in trouble if his or her innocent remark to a lobbyist were misconstrued as an illegal solicitation for campaign money.
``You're going to end up tripping one of your colleagues, and they're going to be mad as hell at all of us,'' warned Del. John Watkins, R-Chesterfield County.
Nonetheless, the panel decided to present the contributions-hiatus bill next week to the full House Privileges and Elections Committee.
Virginia is one of 26 states where lawmakers can solicit and accept special-interest money while voting on matters affecting the same interests.
A computer survey by The Virginian-Pilot, The Roanoke Times' sister newspaper in Norfolk, shows that 37 of 140 state lawmakers reported receiving at least one contribution during the 1996 General Assembly session.
Critics say the practice can create the perception of corporations buying favor or lawmakers shaking down special interests.
``It smells,'' said Del. James Dillard, R-Fairfax County, a member of the special subcommittee studying campaign finance reform.
Banning contributions during legislative sessions sounds like a simple idea, but nothing is simple when it comes to lawmakers policing themselves over money in politics.
Wednesday, members of the legislative subcommittee spoke of the need for numerous loopholes and exemptions to the ban, such as:
Lawmakers - collectively through party caucuses - could continue to take campaign money from the captive audience of lobbyists encamped at the General Assembly.
Candidates for statewide office could continue to raise money through direct-mail efforts.
Lawmakers would be exempt from the ban if they faced a primary election opponent.
Realizing the bill might collapse from the sheer weight of loopholes, the subcommittee drafted an alternative that would maintain the status quo but beef up disclosure.
Under this plan, lawmakers who take campaign contributions during the assembly would have to file a weekly report disclosing contributors' names and the dollar amounts.
Subcommittee members agreed that instant disclosure would almost certainly mean no lawmaker would accept cash while the assembly is in session.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB