ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
An expert on state legislative ethics told General Assembly members on Monday that the absence of scandal should not lull them into a sense of complacency.
"This is a good time for the Virginia General Assembly to consider campaign finance and ethics legislation," said Alan Rosenthal, a political science professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Rosenthal said the lack of scandal would enable lawmakers to deliberate before improving financial disclosure laws. State legislatures that wait to act until after an ethical lapse often overreact with ill-conceived laws, he said.
Rosenthal was the keynote speaker at a first-ever ethics seminar for lawmakers and lobbyists. Nearly half of the 140 assembly members and about 20 lobbyists strolled across Broad Street to the new Library of Virginia for the two-hour event.
Lobbyists got practical advice for avoiding certain words and actions that could create the appearance that campaign contributions are a payoff for legislative support.
Lawmakers got a briefing on a 1994 law that prohibits them from accepting gifts timed in a way that causes a "reasonable person to question the legislator's impartiality."
There was talk of making the seminar a biennial event for new and old members alike.
"We've always taken pride in Virginia that things are run rather cleanly here," said Del. Marian VanLandingham, chairwoman of the House Privileges and Elections Committee.
"But you always have to be sensitive to things. We don't want to become a Kentucky or South Carolina," she said, referring to state legislatures tarred by scandal in recent years.
The media have made ethics an issue this winter, as recent events have underscored loopholes in the state's financial disclosure laws.
Gov. George Allen has proposed legislation requiring lobbyists to disclose the names of lawmakers they entertain with food and drink. Allen also wants lawmakers to lower the threshold for reporting gifts, from $200 to $25.
Del. Harry Purkey, R-Virginia Beach, is preparing a bill that would require lawmakers to disclose how they spend their annual $9,000 office allowance from the state.
Despite the media attention to ethics, many skeptical lawmakers say such changes would increase paperwork without any real benefit.
Rosenthal sympathized with lawmakers, who he said get no credit from a distrusting public and muckraking journalists.
"People are cynical," he said. "They do believe what they do believe. I happen to think they are wrong or ill-informed."
He cautioned against regulations that might create "booby traps" that ensnare honest lawmakers.
Later, Rosenthal said he did not want his remarks to be considered a backing for the status quo. He said he supported measured changes, such as disclosing names of lawmakers who get free meals from lobbyists.
"What I have said is not a recipe for inaction," he said. "It's a recipe for not overreacting. It's a recipe for not letting the media set the agenda."
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB