ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701270064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE AND ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITERS
Lawmakers no longer would be allowed to solicit or accept campaign contributions during General Assembly sessions under legislation approved Saturday by a House of Delegates committee.
Supporters say the bill would help diminish the public perception of a possible quid pro quo between campaign cash and lawmakers' votes.
"The public is cynical enough as it is, and this would eliminate that," said Del. John "Butch" Davies, D-Culpeper, the bill's chief sponsor.
Virginia is one of 26 states where lawmakers can accept donations while voting on matters affecting special interests. A Roanoke Times survey found that a quarter of the state's 140 lawmakers reported contributions during last winter's session.
The bill, which now goes to the full House, is one of several ethics measures this year aimed at curbing questionable practices or better disclosing the role of money in politics.
The House Privileges and Elections Committee also endorsed a bill that would prevent lawmakers from soliciting contributions on behalf of party caucus organizations during General Assembly sessions.
Supporters concede that the measures are largely symbolic. Lawmakers could get around the proposed ban by scheduling fund-raising events just before or after the session. Republican and Democratic caucuses still could hold their biggest fund-raisers of the year while the assembly is in session.
"The staff would have to do all the work, not the lawmakers," said Scott Leake, director of the Joint Republican Caucus.
Cranwell: 'We can't fix everything'
House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, has opposed a lot of legislation in his 26 years in office.
Usually it happens on the House floor in a flurry of lawmaking.
But sometimes, like Saturday when he opposed a bill requiring ignition locks on drunken drivers' cars, he does it while looking crime victims in the eye.
"This committee is the worst assignment in the General Assembly," Cranwell said, "because you have to make choices like this that affect real people."
Cranwell presided Saturday over a House Courts of Justice subcommittee that considers criminal laws.
Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas, brought in a bill that would require convicted drunken drivers to install devices in their cars that would disable the ignition until a breath sensor shows the driver to be sober.
Marshall brought with him a couple whose son had been killed by a drunken driver with a prior record. They described their son's death, detailed his killer's lenient sentence and urged Cranwell to vote for the bill.
After a 10-minute discussion of individual rights and constitutional liberties, Cranwell thanked them for coming and told them their bill was a bad idea. Judges already may order the devices for defendants they think need one.
"Virginia has got the toughest drunk-driving laws in the country," he said. "Regardless of what you hear or what you read in the newspaper, we're not a bunch of slobs up here. We're not up here trying to turn drunk drivers loose. We just may not agree that this bill will do what you want it to do.
"I know the agony you've gone through. I've always thought that to lose a child must be the most agonizing thing a parent could ever go through. But we can't fix everything. If we had some way to glean who the alcoholics are and who the repeat offenders are, it would be a lot easier."
Should ABC enforce teen smoking laws?
Allowing state alcohol agents to enforce youth smoking laws is a bad idea, according to a former member of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
``It's a question of whether, when you see the headlights coming down the road at night, you would rather that Johnny has finished 10 Marlboros or 10 Budweisers,'' says Robert Colvin.
Colvin, who served on the ABC Board from 1990 to 1994, says the plan now under consideration would undermine efforts to control teen drinking.
The new ABC Board has publicly embraced the idea, proposed by Attorney General Jim Gilmore, the likely Republican nominee for governor.
Legislation giving ABC authority over cigarette sales is pending in both houses. A Senate committee on Friday postponed consideration of the bill for a week.
Though the bills grant ABC the authority to enforce the smoking laws, they do not require enforcement.
ABC officials said they could carry out the law with relative ease at the 12,000 licensed establishments where agents already enforce alcohol laws.
The department said it has to collect data on the number of Virginia retailers who sell tobacco products before it can determine how much additional money and staff it would need.
But Colvin thinks the agency would be overwhelmed by the number of retail tobacco outlets in the state.
``Walk through a mall and count the places that sell cigarettes and don't sell alcohol,'' he said.
He thinks ABC would need many more agents to carry out both programs. ``If they don't add substantial resources, then they have to divert from current efforts for alcohol control to tobacco control,'' he said. ``There's no other way mathematically to do it.''
Key dates
Feb. 2: Midnight deadline for Senate and House money committees to finish work on budget bill.
Feb. 4: Deadline for each house to act on its own bills except budget.
Feb. 6: Each chamber approves its version of the budget.
Feb. 11: Last day for each house to act on the other chamber's budget bill and appoint members of the budget conference committee.
Feb. 11: Deadline for committee action on legislation.
Feb. 18: Midnight deadline for conference committee to reach compromise on budget.
Feb. 20: Vote on budget.
Feb. 22: Adjournment.
March 24: Last day for governor to sign, veto or amend legislation.
April 2: One-day session to act on governor's amendments and vetoes.
Want to be heard?
To leave a message for state legislators, call (800)889-0229 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays or write in care of General Assembly Building, Richmond 23219. To track the status of bills, go on line at www.roanoke.com and click on "The Richmond Archive."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WHERE THINGS STAND IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Status of key pieces of legislation
ABORTION
SB1148, by Sen. Mark Earley, R-Cheseapeake, would require that females under 18 to notify a parent or guardian before undergoing an abortion. In cases of abuse, they could go to a judge instead.
CARPAL TUNNEL
(See story today in Business section)
HB 2556, by Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, would provide workers' compensation to people who develop carpal tunnel and other repetitive motion injuries as a result of their jobs. Two competing bills, HB 2366, by Del. Glenn Croshaw, D-Virginia Beach, and SB 1043, by Sen. Richard Holland, D-Isle of Wight County, would specify rigid criteria which sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome would have to meet before receiving workers' compensation.
CHILD CARE
HB 2024, by Del. Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs, would allow people seeking child-care services to have access to the state's Sex Offender Registry.
CHILD CARE
HB 2171, by Del. Julia Connally, D-Arlington, establishes minimum staffing levels for day-care centers, ranging from one employee for eveyr four children up to age 16 months to one employee for every 20 school-age children.
CHILD CUSTODY
SB 496, by Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake, originally would have required that judges begin with the assumption that they'll award divorcing parents joint custody of their children. However, it's been amended to simply require that judges consider joint custody as one of a number of options, but would not mandate joint custody.
CHILD CUSTODY
HB 2105, by Del. John Reid, R-Henrico County, would require divorcing parents of minor children to attend a four-hour educational program and, when custody or visitation is at issue, would require them to submit a parenting plan to the court.
CONTRACEPTIVES
HB 1233, by Del. Julia Connally, D-Arlington, would require that insurance companies offer coverage for prescription contraceptives.
MASTECTOMIES
HB 2020, by Del. Philip Hamilton, R-Newport News, requires that mastectomy patients be allowed a 48-hour hospital stay.
TATTOOS
HB 1636, by Del. David Brickley, D-Prince William County, would require minors to have the written permission of a parent or guardian before getting tattooed.
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